Returning From the Depths
by Mrs.Wski
Summary: Logan Echolls is killed by what Veronica assumes is an assassin hired by Gorya Sorokin. Could he still be alive? Living under another name in some alternate reality of vampires and creatures of mystery? In this world Moonlight occured B4 Veronica Mars.
1. Chapter 1

She saw him. He seemed to be hiding in the shadow of the enormous Weeping Willow in the far corner of the cemetery. Maybe he was a grounds keeper trying not to disturb her obvious grief. Maybe he was keeping tryst with grief of his own. She had been there all afternoon. If she left it would all become too much for her, too real. There was no way he could be dead. Last week he had been teaching her to surf and smothering her with promises of tomorrow. All the things that they were going to do now, now that they were back together. They had wasted so much time being angry. No, wait, she had wasted too much time being angry. Being afraid of what giving into what her heart was pushing her to do meant. She knew that when she finally, truly let Logan Echolls into her heart it would be forever. Why hadn't she realized it sooner? He had loved her. He had protected her. He had sheltered her. He had done everything within his power to keep her safe. Everything, including die.

The funeral had been at 1:00pm that afternoon. Dick had stayed with her. Good old Dick, Why didn't she like Dick again? They were Logan's only real family at this point. He had stayed with her, held her hand, cried with her until the pain was too unbearable for him and he had to leave. Had to go find a bar and drink his sorrows away, numb himself to the whole he now had in his chest. Dick Cassblancas was now all alone in the world and he felt it keenly, "You going to be ok without me?" Dick managed to choke out between tearful sobs.

"I think we'll be fine," she rubbed her still tiny belly.

"I've got my phone if you need me. I can't be here anymore. I…"

"I know," she forced a smile.

"You coming home tonight? Or going to your dad's?"

Veronica hadn't thought about it. Logan and Dick had purchased a beach house together a year earlier when they had both gotten sick of hotel living. She had moved in with them shortly after. Her dad had moved in with Alicia Fennel and she felt so out of place in their house now. Logan was home, "No, I'll come home. Don't worry."

"It's my job to worry… now anyway…" Dick ran his fingers over the top of the tombstone, "I'll have security come back for you."

"I'll call my dad. The sherriff is just as safe right?" She was trying to make Dick feel better.

"Ok," he forced a smile, "I'll be home soon. Don't stay too long, please."

"You sound like Log…" she stopped herself, "thanks Dick. I won't. I just can't seem to make my feet walk away."

She didn't know how long she had stood there, staring at the marker. Logan Echolls. She traced his name over and over again with her finger. There had been no one else to burry him. Just her and the merry band of misfits. Mac…Dick…Wallace…even Weevil…and of course Trina- Trina had made the trip, brought the press corps with her of course. She had let Veronica make all the plans but she had come-that's what mattered. They had done their best. Of course the service had been packed. All of his parent's business associates, their so-called friends. The paparazzi were calling it the Echolls' family curse. She was sure Trina's picture would be all over TMZ and the tabloids- The last Echolls. Trina was loving the spotlight, as usual.

They had finally graduated from Hearst. They were finally grown ups. Mac had taken a Job in Washington, with some super secret sect of the government. Wallace was headed back to Africa to build bridges or something… she didn't remember. Dick was surfing- because what else do California billionaires do with their time? And despite several job offers from the likes of the FBI and the local sherriff's office, Logan had convinced Veronica to take it easy for awhile. To just be with him. Of course, Veronica had found out she was pregnant a few weeks ago. Logan had known, Thank God for small favors. He had been so excited at the prospect of being a father and so afraid. Had made an appointment with a realtor and promised her the house of her dreams, anywhere she wanted-so long as it was far away from Neptune. Gorya Sorokin had attempted to make good on his threats toward Logan several times after their freshman year at Hearst College. Logan had been smart, had hired security. Stayed under the radar. When he had found out she was pregnant Logan made Veronica move to Tijuana with him, just until they figured everything out. She liked Mexico and they were happy there. So happy. That is until one of Gorya's thugs had caught up with them.

Dick had just left and the sun had set, who knows when, and the man that had been patiently waiting under the weeping willow approached her, "Veronica?"

She looked up, "You," she tried to run but he was quick, grabbing her arm, "let me go! HELP!" Dick's car was out of sight and she had left her bag in the car, she was regretting that now, who brings a taser to a funeral?

"Calm down," he held his hand over her mouth, "we are alone. No one will hear you anyway." He slowly removed his hand.

"You killed Logan!" she screamed.

"No, well yes… let me explain…but not here. Come with me," he was forcing her toward a nondescript black car with tinted windows that had been parked near the Willow tree. Carefully her guided her into the backseat, "Child locks," he smiled as he pointed to the door.

In and instant he was sitting in the drivers seat, How'd he do that so fast? Did I pass out?

"My name is Mick St. John. I am a private investigator based in Los Angeles," his tone was calming, "I was asked to come pick you up."

"You killed Logan," she couldn't think of anything else to say. She had been there. She had seen a man, this man attack and murder Logan, her Logan.

"No…well… yes…it's all going to make sense soon. I promise. And for the record, you weren;t supposed to be home that day."

She wasn't. She had forgotten she was supposed to be in San Diego with Wallace and Mac having a day of fun before they headed off to their new jobs. Her quick wit was coming back to her, "oh do explain."

"Look I did kill Logan Echolls but not Josef Kostan."

"Who's Josef Kostan?" the fear of her abduction was wearing off and she was getting angry now. If only I had my bag…her hand brushed something on the seat next to her and she realized it was her messenger back.

"Don't even think about it," Mick was holding her taser in his hand, "Josef warned me. And though it really wouldn't do much in the way of stopping me, it would sure hurt like hell."

"Who are you?" The fear was creeping back in.

"I told you…"

"Yea yea, Mick St. John. But who are you really? And why do I care about Josef Kostan?"

"Because Josef Kostan IS Logan Echolls."

She gasped, "He's not dead?"

"No."

"Then what…." it was all too much for her tiny pregnant body to absorb and she passed out across the backseat of his car.

"Well, that will make the drive easier," He smiled.


	2. Chapter 2

The sun crept thru the thin fabric of the curtains casting dancing streams of light across Veronica's face making her stir, "Good morning," a cautiously familiar voice spoke from beside her.

She shot up, the previous day's events returning to her in an instant. She turned to face the voice, "Logan?"

"Yes. Veronica I…" he started to explain. She needed to hear the truth. He had longed to tell her for ten years, every since the day he saw her in he soccer shorts and knee socks skipping around the Kane's backyard with Lilly.

She cut him off. She needed to touch him. She needed to convince herself that he was not a mirage. He caught her up in his arms and held her as tightly as he dare, "I thought you were dead." Tears were streaming down her face, tumbling from her cheeks onto his chest. One….Two….Three….Six…He lost count but felt every drop.

"I'm sorry," he gently stroked her hair, kissing the top of her head, "I'm sorry I had to do that. I had to protect you. If they found out that I was still alive and you… they would have come after you. They still might."

"Who? Who's coming after me?" this was all a little much for her to process at dawn.

"Too many people. Sorokin, my kind…" she pulled from his grip.

"Your kind? Logan? What are you not telling me?" She was getting scared.

He heard her heart beat accelerate and he wanted to soothe her. He just didn't know the right words, _Surprise baby! I'm a vampire. Have always been a vampire. My parents? Yea they were Vamps too and by the way not really my parents and not really dead-at least Lynn is alive anyway. You see there was this cure we got from the French and we redesigned it to make us appear younger? It was an experiment run amuck and I was stuck reliving my teen years. _No, that was just too much. _Sorry I never told you baby but I drink blood…._No, "Veronica. I love you and I need you to trust that everything will be explained in due time," _That's better, "I would never do anything to hurt you but we are not safe here, you aren't safe here." She heard a door open and felt the ghostly presence of others enter the room, "You remember Mick from yesterday?" She nodded, "And you know Clarence Wiedman?"_

"_C.W?" She let a breath escape she hadn't realized she was holding. Her chest grew tight. There was something not right about the situation in which she now found herself. She could be dead but she didn't care, these were Logan's arms around her. That was the only thing she was currently sure of._

"_Good morning Miss Mars," He tipped his hat, "Mr. Kostan we need to move."_

_Logan nodded, "Veronica I need you to trust me. There are people out there that will hurt you if they get the chance. Our baby is a bit of a mystery." _

_Veronica gripped her stomach tightly, "Oh my God." The look in his eyes was so…white. Suddenly she knew- Logan was something more than human. How many times had Weevil punched him and he just kept standing back up? He had survived a brutal beating at the hand of the PCHers on the bridge. Gory Sorokin hadn't even been able to land a punch and Piz? Piz had nary left a scratch on his face. He had been whipped and punched, and God knows what else at the hands of Aaron Echolls. By all accounts he should be dead or at least broken. He should not have survived his adolescence. He should not be standing perfectly straight before her. How had he? "Is the baby going to be…" but she didn't know how to ask what she was thinking. She didn't really even know what she was thinking so she settled with, "ok?"_

"_I don't know Veronica," was the only answer Logan gave her, "but we have to go. Mick?"_

"_I brought some of Beth's clothes for her- they are on the chair," he gestured to the far side of the sparse hotel room._

"_I've spoken with Keith Mars. He has been apprised of the situation," Clarence Wiedman's voice was stern, "He took it well. Ms. Kendall is with him now."_

"_Kendall?" Veronica's voice was alarmed._

"_She one of us and she's only half as evil as she may appear to you. I am sure Mr. Kostan- Logan will explain all this later."_

"_Your kind? What about Dick?" Veronica was beyond confused but needed answers, "He'll be worried. I told him I would be home last night and…"_

"_Mr. Cassablancas will be taken care of," Clarence really had no social skills, "he was far to intoxicated to speak with last night but a team has been sent to secure his safety. Your friend Mac and Wallace have been briefed and are being protected as well as the younger Mr. Kane and his daughter."_

"_How did you find Dunc… never mind, I don't want to know. My head already hurts," Veronica snuggled in closer to Logan, clinging to his familiar form._

"_Josef! We have to go now!" Mick's tone was urgent, "Get her up and dressed. The bathroom is thru there," he gestured to a door and the two men left the room as quietly as they had entered. _

"_I know you must be confused and scared and I know I will regret asking you this but, do you trust me?" Logan looked her in the eye, "because I need you to trust me today."_

"_I trust you," she stood from the bed and started getting dressed, not caring that he was still in the room, "What?" she couldn't help but smile as she caught him staring at her._

"_You are beautiful. I missed you this past week you know?"_

"_You are lucky that I vaguely understand the urgency we are operating under right now. I'm still pretty fuzzy on the why we are doing this and believe me you will be explaining why you chose to put me…" she paused as she through a clean shirt over her head, "…not to mention Dick and Mac and everyone who cares about you thru Hell this past week, but I get that whatever this is it is bigger than my anger right now."_

"_How did I get so lucky?" Logan smiled, "I love you Veronica."_

"_You better," she quipped and darted into the bathroom._

_She found some soap and a toothbrush waiting for her on the counter. Logan snuck in behind her while she brushed her teeth, "Veronica I am so sorry about all of this."_

_She rinsed her mouth, "I'm so glad to see you. You have no idea how hard this past week has been. I… I couldn't bare to leave our house but I couldn't sleep in our bed without you so I laid there and stared at the ceiling and cried. After about an hour of my sobbing Dick barged in, scoped me up, and made me come sleep with him," Logan's eyebrow raised, "not like that," she smacked his shoulder._

"_Good."_

"_He let me curl up with him. It helped a little to have a warm body next to me," a tear came to her eye, "but I woke up in the morning and it wasn't you and… We both missed you so much and…" she couldn't finish._

"_Shhh… baby," he pulled her into his arms, "I know. I am so so sorry."_

"_I really need to call him," she wiped her face, "I…we," she rubbed her belly, "haven't been out of his sight since you… since… well in a week anyway."_

"_Clarence is taking care of Dick. Don't worry. He knows you are ok and he knows you are with me. We will see him again soon."_

_Logan climbed into the backseat of Mick's car and tucked a blanket around Veronica's tiny body. He could see the toll his 'death' had taken on her. She was always small but with the stress and heartache of the last week he could see her bones poking at her skin and despite the 75 degree weather she was shivering. _

"_Where are we going?" She asked in a timid voice. _

"_Los Angeles first and then anywhere you want to go," Logan smiled._

"_Josef you really think you will be ok in LA? I mean you weren't exactly keeping a low profile these past few years?" Veronica could hear the concern in Mick's voice._

"_I think we will be ok for a little while. Everyone thinks Logan Echolls is dead- and I still have a house under my real name and a closet full of my old clothes in your loft right?" _

"_Yeah, your stuff is still there," He passed Logan a canteen._

"_I will go back to my previous attire- I've been relaxing these last few years but I've missed my suits!" He smiled down at Veronica._

"_Suits? I've only seen you in a tux when your parents made you. What are you talking about?"_

"_Trust me- remember?" _

_She nodded turning her gaze out the window to the passing ocean scenery, "If we were home, or in Mexico you would be surfing today." _

"_Josef surfs?" Mick laughed, "How'd you swing that?"_

"_We surfed early in the morning or when it was overcast. When the sun got too strong for me I relaxed on my board and drifted under a pier. I can handle the sun for a couple hours at a time now." He shot a telling look toward Mick, "Jealous?"_

"_Hell yeah!" Mick laughed, "I'll get there though."_

"_It still stings like hell but I can take it. My pain threshold has reached new heights since last we met. I think the 'cure' that made me pseudo-human helped in that regard too," Logan smiled in Veronica's direction. She was somewhere else, some time else. Her eyes drifted over the oceanscape and he could tell she was lost in her own memories, "Veronica, are you ok?"_

"_What?… I mean yes. I mean… I'm still trying to piece all of this together," she forced a smile, "What exactly are you Logan?"_

"_Why don't you tell me what you've already figure out. We'll go from there," he smiled, trying to soothe her nerves._

"_I think you have hired these two," she gestured toward Clarence and Mick, "to protect us because you think Gorya's people will come after us. I think you faked your death in Mexico to set up a new life- but L.A. doesn't make sense to me- too many people that knew Aaron and would recognize you and there is something about all three of you that is off. Almost like you aren't really human. Which I know sounds crazy!"_

_He sighed, "You better tell her," Mick interjected, "the sooner the better- just like ripping off a band aid."_

"_I guess it's easier to just tell you that I am more than what I appear," confusion shifted thru her eyes, "I was born over four hundred years ago."_

_Veronica burst out laughing, "seriously Logan, don't play games with me today. I just need to know what is going on. And why everyone keeps calling you Josef or Mr. Kostan?"_

"_I'm trying to tell you. I'm…" his hand absently drifted thru his own hair, "I am a vampire."_

_Still not believing him she tilted her neck in his direction, "so you want to drink my blood then?"_

_His eye's turned white and he flashed his fangs at her. She gasped, "Don't think I haven't thought of it before now. You have been the greatest temptation of my life. I thought I had known love before. I thought I had known family…. I spent four hundred years looking for you and now that I have you I am so afraid I'll lose you." Veronica's face was frozen in a horrific glare, "I am a vampire. I drink blood- mostly donated blood," he paused and looked her dead in the eye, "from a glass. There was a time when I did feed off of humans. That time ended just before I met you. And even then it was very rarely enough to hurt anyone."_

"_Logan," she started, "you are scaring me."_

_He pulled her close to his side. Hoping that with sheer will he could subside her fear, "I'm not trying to scare you Veronica. I need you to understand why we have to run."_

_Veronica shot forward and grabbed Mick's shoulder, "Pull over!" she screamed, "I'm going to be sick."_


	3. Chapter 3

"Give her another minute," Mick laid a tender hand on his friend's shoulder. Josef stood by the car watching Veronica wretch in the distance. Her stomach was long since empty but her tiny frame contorted halfway hidden behind a tree near the roadside.

"I…"

"Give her time, it's a lot to take in all at once."

"Mr. Kostan," Clarence Wiedman handed Josef a bottle of water and a small towel, "this might help her."

"Mick what have I done?" Mick had never seen his friend this emotional. Josef was usually so stiff, so sure of himself. When Josef had financed the research project into the 'cure' Mick had been concerned. He had experienced its affects first hand and knew the temptation to be human again. He had been angry when Josef had insisted on being the first test subject and scared out of his mind at the resulting effects it had. Josef had been 25 (give or take 500 years) when the newly revamped compound was administered and twenty-four hours later he had not only been human but decelerated in age. Doomed, for only God knew how long, to the life of an adolescent boy. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined the rigid man he knew as Josef Kostan returning from his journey back into childhood with a pregnant woman at his side. He had known about Sara, had known the love Josef felt for her. He could see in his eyes that that love had paled in comparison to what he felt for Veronica Mars.

"You fell in love. Happens to the best of us," Mick couldn't fault his friend. He, himself was living with a human woman. Beth had been a tenacious reported but now had settled into a quiet existence with Mick helping him on the occasional investigation and writing the odd free lance pieces for the Los Angeles Times. She shied away from the spotlight now and relished in her role as mom. Not being able to have children of their own Beth had convinced Mick that fostering children who had no one else was the perfect solution to satisfy her desire to be a mother.

Josef took a few cautious steps in Veronica's direction extending the water to her when she noticed his presence. "Thank you," Veronica whispered as she took the water from his shaking hand. She allowed her body to go limp and fall to the ground with a thump. She sat crossed legged staring up into his eyes, "Logan, I need you to explain all this again."

He sighed, knowing that she was not going to accept this easily. "I've spent the past decade longing to tell you who I really," she started to interrupt him but he stopped her and continued, "Just hear me out Veronica."

"Ok" she took another sip of her water and wet the cool towel placing it gently across the back of her neck.

"I've done things I am not proud of the past few years. I lied to you so many times to keep my secret. Mick's dream is to be human again, to live and die like he should have had he never been turned to this. To vampirism. We found a "cure" that dated back to the French revolution. Mick's ex wife had it and she gave it to Mick once. He took it and lived as human for months- until Beth, Beth is his-well his Veronica- until Beth needed help and he begged me to turn him back. Who knows how long it would have lasted if we had let it run its course. Anyway, I found out he kept a vile of his own blood from while he was human. I threw my resources into finding a way to produce the "cure" for him. My research team worked for months and finally thought they had cracked it. Mick and Beth were just starting their life together and I had no one. I insisted I be used as a guinea pig on the project and… well it worked. It worked too well and a day after I took it I was 13 years old again and had to figure something out. I was a very successful man, had unlimited resources and was fairly well known in LA. I found Lynn and Aaron who agreed to take me in as their son until we could figure out how to get me back to myself. We moved to Neptune and I met you and Lilly and Duncan. Eventually we realized that I was aging. We didn't know for how long or how old I would physically become." He lifted his eyes to Veronica's who was staring intently on him. She nodded urging him to continue, "Aaron had a temper and took it out on me. When I was 13, 14, 15 years old his beatings hurt. I bled and healed at the normal human rate. The last couple of years I lived with him the beating got worse and my healing times got faster and faster. The scientists I hired to discover the cure realized that I was reverting back to my Vampire state. I was upset. I had grown accustom to my human existence. I started drinking and acting out. People chalked it up to teenage angst but it was so much more than that. I was in limbo, never knowing when I was going to completely transform back to a vamp. I had to stop myself when I attacked Piz. I knew I was stronger than I should be. I was certain when I leveled Gorya that I was back to Josef. I realized the angrier I was the faster I turned. I tried to tame my anger. I couldn't. I am what I am."

"But…"

"I know you have questions. I will answer them all in time."

"I have one question. Well… three actually. Trina?"

"Trina's not a vampire, but she knows what the rest of us are."

"Lynn?"

"Lynn is a vampire. She and Aaron were married and living the high life as Hollywood elite but she was like Beth. She wanted children. Aaron had adopted Trina and then Lynn heard about what happened to me thru the vampire grapevine and offered her assistance. She saw the chance to have a family and I saw a place to hide until I could figure out what else to do. She did jump off that bridge. She had had enough of Aaron and his abusive treatment. But she didn't die. She ran off. I loved her- she was the closest thing I had to a mother- I had been alone for the last couple of centuries and I relished having a real family again no matter how awful Aaron treated us. She finally contacted me a few weeks ago- she is in Eastern Europe right now- flitting about between nations last I heard. I meant it when I asked you to help me find her and rather you know it or not you led me down the right path. The tears I shed for her were more for the life I could never have again than for her death. I'm sorry Veronica."

"I have one more question," he knew what she was going to ask and he wanted to cry, "what is our baby? Will she be ok? Will she be like you?"

"I. Don't. Know." he enunciated his words and let a tear escape his eye, "I've barely slept since you told me you were pregnant. I can't stop thinking about it. I am not so much concerned at the welfare of our baby as I am the reaction my community will have. I am afraid for its safety. Can I ask you something?"

"What?" she wrapped her arms around her stomach a movement that now felt as natural to her as breathing.

"Why do you call the baby 'she?'"

"It's just a feeling," she smiled. "I know no one would know I was pregnant if I didn't tell them. I know she doesn't have hands and feet yet but I feel in my bones that she is a girl."

"I trust your gut," he reached for her pulling her up from the ground and pressing her against his form, "I love you Veronica. The only thing that has changed is my name. I'm Josef Kostan. Logan was a name I read in a book somewhere and liked. I needed a young name. A name from this century."

She giggled, "I know I should be angry that you lied to me. I know I should hate you right now. I should run from here and never look back." He tightened his grip on her just in case she made good on her last threat. "But my gut is telling me that this is where I need to be. I've spent too much of our life together angry. It's somehow calming to know what it was that you were keeping from me. Does that make sense?"

"Not at all but I am grateful for your gut!" He kissed her forehead, "Come on- we need to get back on the road."


	4. Chapter 4

***Fair warning there is some swearing in this chapter!***

The car ride into Los Angeles was long and quiet, attributes Veronica was thankful for as she needed time to process the vast amounts of information Logan had thrown at her. "Logan," she finally broke the silence as they sat at a traffic light just outside the city, "You said Lynn was alive," he nodded, "but what happened to Aaron? I mean if I am grasping everything you're telling me then you guys live forever and…"

"Ms. Kendall and I disposed of him and that is all you need to know," Clarence Weidman's voice was stern and succeeded in stopping Veronica's train of thought.

"I thought Kendall was dead," The vampire world made Veronica's head ache.

"Veronica, there are rules in our world. Aaron didn't want to live by those rules any longer and so he had to be taken care of," Mick smiled into the rear view mirror at her, "This must all seem surreal to you. Don't worry. I am going to drop you off with my Beth, she is one-hundred-percent human and has been in your shoes. Josef and I will make sure your safe house is secure."

"But…" Veronica started to protest, she had just gotten Logan back and the thought of a separation, no matter how confused or upset she was, was unthinkable to her.

"There will be plenty of time for you and Josef to talk later. Your safety is our first priority right now. No arguing," Mick was stern but there was something in his eye when he looked at her, when he looked at Logan that made her trust him.

"Logan," Veronica turned her face toward him. He was smiling, "I can't call you Josef- it's just,"

"It's ok Veronica. I am Logan. And I am Josef. Primarily though I am just plain YOURS. So whatever you want to call me I will answer to faithfully. As long as it is not ex," he sighed, "you aren't going to leave me right?"

"I…" she didn't know what to say, the thought of loosing him again despite it being her decision was unbearable, "It's a lot to process," her face dropped, " I have so many questions. How old are you Logan?"

"Tell her the truth Josef," Mick's eyes were watching them in the rear view mirror.

"I was born is 1599," He closed his eyes, praying she did not to jump from the car at the next traffic light.

"AD or BC?"

His eyes flew open and he laughed, "Not what I thought you were going to ask tiny blonde one but I guess it's valid. 1599 AD."

"So you are like four hundred and something?"

"And something," he reached his hand out to her. She took it and smiled.

"You look nervous. Like I am going to poof," she gestured with her hands, "vanish."

"I am so afraid you will leave me," He stroked the back of her hand with his thumb, "I thought I was in love before. I was wrong. Anything I have ever felt before pales in comparison to what I feel for you. And a baby? I never dreamed I would be a father. I love you so much Veronica. You made something come alive in me that hasn't been there since…well… since I was alive."

She scooted her tiny body across the backseat, positioning herself as close to him as physically possible. His cool skin felt good against her stressed body. Her fingers slowly moved from his hand to his chest and he relaxed as she laid her head against his ribcage, "I can't hear your heart."

"I've turned back into a vampire. I don't have a heartbeat anymore," he ran his fingers across the bottom of her chin forcing her to look up at him. A huge smile plastered across his face, "But you have two."

"Two heartbeats?" she looked perplexed for a moment. Then it dawned on her, "You can hear the baby's heart?"

"Mick, pull the car over! Kill the engine!" Mick did as he was told, "Listen! Am I delusional? Mick do you hear that erratic little flutter?"

Mick got out of the car and moved around to the backseat, letting his ear drop as near to Veronica's stomach as he could without touching her, "I do. It's faint but it's there. You know what this means right?"

"My kid is not a vampire!" Logan grabbed Veronica's face, letting any nervousness he had regarding their child fly out the window and kissing her deeply. He kissed her cheek, kissed her forehead, kissed her lips, her mouth, _her tongue tastes so good_. He kissed his own fingers and then pressed them against the spot he heard the heartbeat emanating from, "My baby has a heartbeat." His eyes were flooded with tears of relief, "and I can taste you."

"Taste me?" Veronica's hand flew to her neck, "you're not going to, you know? Drink me now are you?" Her other hand making a motion as if to signify fangs in her own mouth.

"You can taste her?" Mick looked astonished.

Josef forced an uncomfortable laugh, "No, Veronica, I would never hurt you! You know that, at least I hope you do. When I kissed you- I could taste your flavor, which is odd because Vampires don't eat food. We don't need it and we can't taste it. We survive on blood and the occasional tumbler of scotch. But I can taste you," He smiled and gently stroked her face, "maybe I am not 100% vampire yet after all."

"I'm a little jealous," Mick smiled.

Veronica let out a sigh of relief, "you can hear the baby's heartbeat?"

"Yes," Josef and Mick said in unison.

"It's slower than any fetal heart rate I've ever heard before," Mick smiled at Veronica, "I was a medic in world war two."

"Lots of births on the battle field eh?" Veronica quipped.

"I hate to break up this party," Clarence Weidman had turned to face them all, "but I would like to get out of this car post haste."

Mick hopped back into the drivers seat. The foreboding feeling that had plagued Josef since the moment Veronica told him she was pregnant had lifted slightly and he spent the rest of the car ride with a foolish grin plastered on his face.

"Our building is just a few blocks from here," Mick hollered over his shoulder as they exited the highway, "Beth is there waiting for you. She is beyond excited to meet you Veronica."

"Drop me at the next corner. I can walk from there." as long as Veronica had known Clarence Weidman he had been a private person, and emotionless drone, intensely loyal and deadly serious. She could only imagine how annoyed he was traveling with their rag-tag group of mythical misfits.

"Good bye Clarence," Veronica chirped as he exited the car.

"Ms. Mars." she thought she saw the slightest smile cross his stern lips but it was gone in an instant and he quickly disappeared down an alleyway.

"Always so cheerful," Josef commented.

"That man is over 80 years old and he still acts like a sullen teenager," Mick smiled, "Clarence was turned by a flower child at a rave in 1969."

"Yeah, he was too stoned to realize what had happened. I think he's still pissed," Josef laughed.

"Clarence Weidman? Stoned? Oh to have been a fly on that wall," Veronica giggled.

They reached Mick and Beth's home a few minutes later. Mick slowly put the car into park and cut the engine, "I'll wait here for you. Tell Beth we won't be long." In an instant Logan was out of the car and opening the door extending his arm to help Veronica out onto the sidewalk, "I will walk you upstairs." When they were inside the building and safely out of Mick's earshot he spoke again, "Veronica, are you ok? I know I've thrown a lot at you today."

"This is going to sound bizarre Logan but I think our baby is keeping me calm. Helping me to get through this. Helping me understand. Is that weird?"

"No," he let a nervous laugh escape, "no, I don't think that is weird at all. Ironic, yes."

"Ironic?"

"I have been begging you to let me help you for years now! You finally accept help and it is from a fetus- a defenseless, bodiless- albeit perfect baby that can't survive without your lifeblood- yes I find it very ironic."

Beth through open the apartment door and hugged Veronica as though she were her long lost sister, "I am so excited to meet you!" The smile glued to her face was evident in her voice.

"Oh, and we're hugging," Veronica mumbled sarcastically.

"You will have to excuse Veronica, Beth, she's never really been a hugger," he bent and placed a light kiss on Beth's cheek, "It's good to see you. I see you've kept our boy out of trouble in my absence."

"You would be surprised at how easy it was once you weren't around," her warm smile turned sickly-sweet as she playfully glared at Josef, "Come in, come in," she ushered them through the door, "Your friends just arrived. They are in the living room."

"I flew in a couple of presents to ease the stress of this week," Josef smiled.

"Who?" but Veronica didn't have to ask as her question was answered in the next second.

"Ronnieeeeeee!" Dick yelled as he popped around the corner, scooping her up in his arms and spinning her around the entry. Dick and Veronica had forged a strong, however, strange friendship in recent weeks, "How's my little God-daughter?" He patted her belly as he placed her back on her feet, "and you!" He screamed and threw a finger in Logan's face, "I could punch you. I would punch you but Beth here tells me I'd break my hand."

"Richard…" Mac's soothing tone cooed from behind him, "we promised we would at least hear him out."

Veronica rushed to Mac and Niagara falls unleashed themselves from her eyes. She couldn't speak. Mac's tiny frame could barely support her as Veronica flung herself against her shoulder. Dick reached his arm out to steady the girls with which he considered his only remnants of family, "I'm so glad to see you," Veronica cried into Mac's bright green highlights.

"Oh, Bond," she stroked her back.

"Easy for you to say 'let's hear him out.' 'Let's hear him out' my ass! You knew what he was! Don't get me started on you lying to me Mackie!" Dick pouted, stomping his feet as he trudged back into the living room.

"I didn't know he was alive." Mac's eyes shifted their gaze from Veronica's hurt expression to Josef and finally cast downward to the floor. The guilt was tearing at her, "I'm so sorry I couldn't tell you Veronica. I'm so sorry."

Veronica's stared at her friend blankly allowing the words to sink into her brain, _Mac knew!_ "Let's go sit down in the other room, shall we?" Beth motioned, "Not you." she pointed at Josef, "Don't you have a house to go secure?"

"But…" he instinctually reached his arm toward Veronica.

"I will handle this," she whispered and pointed towards the exit.

"Call me if she needs me? We won't be long," his smile faded and he disappeared down the hallway, "Call me if any of them need me. _Any _of them Beth!"

"How'd that go?" Mick smirked as Josef bounded into the car.

"The faster we get this done the better," Logan stared up into the window he knew housed his girl, "We should have found a better way." In that instant the cool exterior of Josef Kostan melted away and the teenage boy he had allowed himself to become over the past few years emerged. Mick saw it in his eyes. Saw it in the way he gazed longingly with no hope of seeing her from his vantage point.

"She'll be ok. We will make her understand. We didn't have the time to figure out another way. What we did was the fastest and most believable idea for extraction we could come up with," Mick place a hand on his friends shoulder, "And it was really fun for me to kick the shit out of you!"

"Thanks man," Josef leered, "I knew I could count on you to make my death look believable. I think you left a scar." Josef ran his fingers over the raised skin on his chest where Mick had plunged a fishing knife during their rumble in Mexico.

"Most fun I've had in ages!" The men laughed as Mick pulled the car away from the curb.

Beth patiently kept her distance from the reunited trio. Dick and Mac spent nearly an hour soothing the frayed nerves packaged in their petite blonde friend, "You knew- you knew I was in love with a vampire." Veronica blurted out betweens sobs, choking on her words, trying to wipe the tears from her face and dry her friends shirt sleeve, "I'm sorry. It's just so much to… to take in."

"Take as long as you need," Mac comforted.

"Thank you," Veronica's voice was a whisper.

"Oh, Bond. You don't have to thank us. We will always be here for you. Besides Logan still owes me for the last quarter on our website!" Mac tried to lighten the mood, "I came to collect."

Dick rubbed Veronica's back in soothing circles, not knowing really what to say or do. His fist was clenched, anger building within him the more she cried, "Did they hurt you," Dick felt helpless and though he couldn't see any visible wounds he was concerned.

"No," she squeaked out, "no one hurt me. It's just all a little much to wrap my brain around. These kinds of things only ever happen in books and bad horror movies," she paused allowing herself to release a chuckle, "But I guess my life has always been a bad horror film so what's one more cliché? I'm so glad you guys are here." Dick let his fist loosen and wrapped both the girls in a bear hug, "You knew Mac?" Her earlier revelation was suddenly demanding clarification, echoing around her mind.

"I told you she'd be pissed. I fear her enough to know you don't lie to Ronnie!"

"I don't work for a secret branch of government. Well, not the U.S. government anyway. I've been working for Logan, with Logan. There are two Logan's. There's your Logan and then there is a fat computer nerd vamp Logan…Anyway I do computer work for Logan and Mick and the other vamps. They aren't half bad when you get to know them and they pay well," she smiled at her friend, "I'm so sorry. Logan needed help planning his exit strategy and setting things up for you and Dick and your dad. I've only known for the last year or so. Logan made me promise not to tell you any of this. He love's you V. He didn't want to freak you out. And he _NEVER _told me he was going to fake his death! I would never have let him hurt you like that. You have to believe me V!"

"You are good with Weird," Veronica spoke as if the revelation was old news.

"That's all?" Dick was stunned, "you aren't mad? I was pissed as hell when she told me. Tell me that shit on a plane so I can't walk away. Shit Macaroni!"

"Pissed off and still calling me by nicknames. Interesting anger-management tactics you have there," Mac smiled at Veronica as Dick turned his back on the two girls.

"You must have a million questions," Beth's voice was soothing. She set down a tray full of treats and gestured for them to help themselves, "I know when Mick first told me what he was I was… well I'm not really sure what I was but I do know I had questions, so, shoot, I have been told to be an open book!"

"What is Log- err- Josef. What is Josef like? I mean does he play video games and surf all the time? Does he like to read-Logan is always reading. Does he have friends? A wife? I'm so afraid he has a wife that he isn't telling me about," Veronica's eyes were pleading, "I feel like I've never met this man who's baby I am going to have. I feel like he's a stranger but at the same time I look at him and he looks like Logan and I listen to him speak and his voice sounds like Logan but he's not… he's not Logan he's Josef and he lives in L.A. and he drinks blood and he's four hundred and some odd years old and my Logan doesn't exist. Never existed and…"

"Slow down," Beth raised her hands in the air and cut Veronica off, afraid she would talk herself into a panic attack, "I've known Josef for fifteen years or so now and no he most certainly does not have a wife."

"Seriously Veronica, the dude just told you he is a vampire and you are concerned as to rather he's married or not? I will never understand chicks," Dick's normal confused facial expression seemed to overtake his entire body as he reached forward and helped himself to a cookie.

"I have to admit I was not expecting that to be your first question," Beth giggled a little, "Josef was in love once- or so I have been told. You will have to ask him to get the entire story but her name was Sara and she died about ten years ago. Before he met you anyway. She was very sick, Josef did all he could but there was nothing anyone could do. If I understand the story correctly she was stuck somewhere between human and vampire in some sort of coma for like 50 years or something. Her body finally gave up. It was right before Josef started working on this cure for Mick. I think he thought that he could help Mick and I be together the way he and Sara never had a chance to be."

"That makes sense. Was she pretty? Do you think he loved her?"

"I never saw her. I don't know if he loved her as much as he felt guilty for her state. He never talked about her with me. Mick saw her once but she was already comatose. Guilt is a very strong emotion though and I think that is what tied him to her more than anything. Veronica I would not worry. I have never seen Josef so… so…. Happy. Josef was never happy. When he walked into a room I always felt like a black rain cloud should be hovering over his head striking everyone around him with lightning bolts, but tonight when he dropped you off he seem genuinely happy," Beth finished and looked at Veronica.

"His name is Logan. He has been Logan since we were twelve," Dick grumbled from the far side of the room. He was standing by a window watching the sun set in the distance. It seemed poetic to him somehow- the sun setting on Logan Echolls and rising on Josef Kostan.

"Ignore him," Mac snapped.

"It's ok, this has to be so hard on all of you. I can't imagine how hard! To have been grieving for the past week and now all this. I'm surprise you are all still standing to be honest with you."

"We had some fucking childhood. We're used to this shit."

"Dick! Language!" Veronica snapped.

"This is all so ridiculous! I can't help it. We are supposed to just accept that Logan is this Joe dude and he's a vampire but that's ok because we live in the age of Twilight and vampires are good? Fuck Ronnie! If you weren't pregnant would we be here or would he have left us for good? How can you be so calm?"

Veronica crossed the room, "Dick you have been my rock this last week. Come sit with me," she grabbed his hand and led him back to the couch, "put your hand here," she placed his sun kissed hand on her belly, "that's your God-daughter in there telling you to stop swearing about her daddy," Dick smiled. "I can't explain why but I honestly believe she is helping to soothe my nerves through all this. I need to stay calm. If I get too stressed it will hurt her Dick. Can you help me? Can you help me stay calm for her?"

"Smooth Ronnie, real smooth," he smiled.

Veronica with tears in her eyes looked to Beth, "So what is Josef like Beth?"

"I suspect he is much like the boy you fell in love with. Mick was human for a few weeks once- he was still Mick. Only he ate food and laid in the sun with me and didn't sleep in a freezer," Beth smiled at her own memories.

"The sun?" Mac queried. Although she had known most of Josef's secrets she had not been given the bigger details about vampirism.

"A freezer?" Dick chimed in.

"Vampire's can't be in direct sunlight. It hurts them. They get sick and if they get to much sun they can die. They need to be cool so they mostly sleep in freezers- Mick's is upstairs if you'd like to see it," she said matter of factly.

"Maybe Later," Veronica reasoned, "I'm processing."

"Dude- no more surfing for Logan?" Dick was aghast.

"Josef surfs?" Beth laughed, "I foresee a lot of night surfing in his future if that's the case." She paused, a light bulb turning on in her head, "Josef always had a hundred televisions on in his office. He was a very successful hedge fund trader and I thought he had them all to watch his stocks and business ventures but now that I think of it a fair share of them were tuned to sporting events. Perhaps surfing was a dream that he got to fulfill."

"But who is he?" Veronica was not hearing the answers she wanted.

"Josef is a hedge trader who spends money like humans drink water. He has a gorgeous house in the hills outside of L.A. He's known for his parties, his money and his women…"

"Sounds like Logan," Dick laughed.

"He is sarcastic and quick witted. He and Mick have been friends for Mick's entire vampire lifetime. I was in trouble once and Mick was human- well not human- but he had taken some of the cure and turned human. I needed help and according to Mick Josef didn't think twice about syring Mick back and aiding in my rescue."

"Syring?" Mac was confused.

"It just means he turned him back into a vampire. He put himself in danger to fight off some bad vampires that were going to kill me for my rare blood type. I didn't know him very well before that. He didn't have to help-but he did. He comes across quite stiff and doesn't let people in easily but once he does, once he lets you in he is fiercely loyal. I accused him of murder once-actual cold blooded murder not just…well… he is a vampire afterall…- and he still came through for me when I needed him. He is a good man. He and Mick are family."

"I accused him of murder once too," Veronica had to smile, "apparently he is a very suspicious character."

"And very forgiving," Beth smiled.

"Logan said something about wearing suits?"

Veronica's line of questioning was not at all what Beth had been expecting, "There is a closet full of them upstairs. He left quite a few things with Mick and I when he moved to Neptune. Josef is very stylish. I was a little shocked when he walked in here in cargo pants and that t-shirt- jacket combo. It was not at all what I am used to seeing him in. But I guess I haven't seen him in a few years. I mostly keep up with him via Facebook or the occasional email. Mick always goes to Neptune to check on him- I stayed here with the kids. We have two foster children right now." Her face lit up, "how far along are you Veronica?"

"About 10 weeks or so. With everything that has happened I only made it to the doctor once and haven't had an ultrasound yet…"

"Oh we have to get you set up with an O.B. here! Josef will probably find one who is a vampire just in case," Beth suddenly found herself very excited, "I know we've just met but let me help you! I fully plan on living vicariously through you."

"I would like that," Veronica smiled, "Beth can I ask you something personal?"

"Of course."

"Why are you human? I mean you have been with Mick for years and well you are aging right?"

Beth's eyes suddenly filled with sadness, "Mick won't syre me. He says that being a vampire is not living. Josef always thought he was a little crazy so maybe now that Josef is back," A mysterious glint entered her eye as she trailed off, "I love Mick more than anything. At some point the conversation will come up again. I don't want to be 80 and have a 30 year old husband." She laughed.

"Knock, Knock!" Mick called from the entry as he and Josef entered. Beth jumped out of her seat and through herself into Mick's waiting arms kissing his lips fully, "Well, I missed you too." He cooed.

"Veronica are you ready to go?" Josef crossed the room and offered her his hand.

"I'm going with you," Dick stood and crossed his arms over his chest, "this is all too weird and I am not leaving Ronnie alone with any of you people."

"Dick, calm remember?" Veronica placed his hand back on her belly hoping the baby would transfer her calming affect to him.

"Dick, it's Logan," Mac rubbed his arm.

"No, Mac, it's ok," Logan ran his hand absent-mindedly through his hair, "I'm just going to grab some of my clothes. We got all the bedrooms set up at the house but there's not much more than furniture there. We got some groceries and stuff for you guys."

"All your stuff is upstairs in the back closet. I'll show you," Beth followed him up the stairs.

"Dick, what is the matter with you?" Veronica hissed.

"Are you telling me you trust him? Dude just told you that he is a vampire, that he has been just pretending to be Logan Echolls, pretending to be our friend. I can't just roll over and…"

"It's ok, Josef was expecting you and Mac to stay at his house ," Mick tried to diffuse the situation, "I know this is a lot to take in. Beth was a wreck when I first told her what I was but we have a great relationship now." He eyed Veronica as he spoke. She got the distinct feeling that he and Logan had been listening to their conversation from the hallway and their entrance had been timed base on Mick's own comfort level.

Veronica jabbed Dick in the ribs with her elbow, "I'm calm, I'm calm," he cried, "I can be calm and still not trust this… situation."

Mac and Veronica audibly sighed.


	5. Chapter 5

**** Authors note: this is sort of a filler chapter, introducing you to Josef's home and his scared relationship with Dick. I promise more adventure in the next installments! Reviews are greatly appreciated. I have several ideas for this tale but I am struggling to put them to paper which is very unlike me. I usually have it all planned out and ready to go weeks before I post but…. Hope you are liking this story! Review review review! Thanks! ****

Forty-five minutes later the quartet was making a sharp left hand turn into a drive-way that was better paved than the road they had been traveling. It wound up the side of a steep hill until it reached a house perched on the edge of a cliff. Trees towered over three sides of the house and the fourth overlooked the ocean. _Why does this not surprise me?_ Veronica could not help but think that this house with its loneliness and quaint oceanic view screamed Logan's name. There was a garden with a hidden pool

and a Jacuzzi tub on a patio that hung over the cliffs edge. The Earth formed a U-shape that created a small private bay. The front of the house had floor to ceiling windows that provided the perfect view each night of the sun setting over the ocean.

"Dude, that is the biggest staircase I have ever seen," Dick stood at the edge of the deck not talking to anyone in particular, his eyes tracing the steps that led to the ocean's edge. _I wonder where the closest surf shop is?_

"There's boards in the pool house," Logan stepped onto the deck behind him and spoke as if reading his mind, "I seem to be able to handle the sun still, Beth told you about the sun, right? Do you want to head out with me tomorrow morning?"

"She told us," Dick turned his back and headed into the main house, "Ronnie, let me take your bag."

Mac reached out and laid a tender arm on Logan's shoulder, "It'll be ok."

"He hates me," Veronica and Dick disappeared at the top of the stairs and Logan cast his eyes downward, "He's not going to forgive me is he?."

"I think he will, eventually, but if he doesn't you are in good company. He hates me too," she soothed.

"I'm going to go make sure Veronica finds her room," he ran his fingers through his hair, a move that had become quintessentially Logan and seemed like second nature to him.

"I'm gonna take a shower and head to bed, it's been a long day" she smiled up at him, "I keep saying this but it will get better, Logan. Tell Bond to wake me if she needs anything."

Logan entered the house and stared for a moment at his surroundings. Not much had changed in the house during his decade absence. Most of the same artwork still hung on the walls, antiquities her had collected over his lifetime, though some of the light-hearted pieces he had obtained after Lynn ran off had been added and brought a little color and life to the room. The same furniture, dark tones and straight lined, still surrounded him. He has lived in this house on and off for the last century. He had added onto the building and updated the design every few years however tonight he felt like a stranger to his surroundings. The last decade had changed him. He had lived as a teenager and had allowed himself to not only play the part but become the part. A piece of him had secretly wished this day would never come, the day he would have to face the love of his life after admitting to her that he had lied the entire time he had known her. It had been one thing to tell his woeful tale with Mick and Clarence Weidman around but he was about to be alone with her, really alone with her, for the first time since he had confessed the truth of his existence and Josef Kostan was terrified. Veronica was the one person, nay the one creature on earth with the capabilities to destroy him. Sure she was tiny and posed no physical threat but how long can anyone survive once their heart has been ripped from their chest?

He stood outside her bedroom door for what felt like hours but in reality was only a few minutes. His nerves had overtaken all control of him and he was frozen, his hand resting on the doorknob unable to turn it. Just when he had made up his mind to force his feet to turn and stomp off disappointedly in the opposite direction he heard her tiny voice singing, growing stronger with each note and suddenly had the strength to face her. "_I hear the bells, down in the canyon. It's snow in New york, some blue December, I'm gone to the moon without you girl, and I'm calling to you throughout the world and well I can hear the bells are ringing joyful and triumphant and I hear the b…" _She stopped abruptly as she sensed his presence behind her, "I was wondering how long it would take you to open the door."

"You knew I was out there?"

"Please, you are not as stealthy as you seem to think you are. My pixie spy senses were tingling," she smiled and raised her arms gesturing for him to embrace her, "I missed you."

"Ok, who are you and where is Veronica? You have never forgiven me anything as long as I've known you and now when you find out that I have not only lied to you since we were 12 but that I am a monster _and _faked my own death putting you through Hell, now you forgive me like it was nothing?" Logan was baffled. _Why am I remind her of the all the reasons she should hate me? _He slapped himself internally as soon as the words were out of his mouth.

"Would you rather I were mad at you?"

"No."

"Then work with me here Echolls! I don't know what's going on. I'm pregnant Logan. I am pregnant and afraid. I am in a strange place with strange people. Dick, who has been holding me up since you…well…died or, didn't die as the case may be, is pissed off at me for not being angry at you. And you… you are a freaking vampire. I am trying to stay calm for my baby, for our baby," tears were in her eyes as he cut off her monologue.

"So what you're saying is I should have knocked you up years ago?" the was a glint of mischief in his eyes as he watched her search for understanding.

"What? Why on earth…"

"Well, if you are avoiding risks because you are pregnant I could have saved myself a lot of worrying and knocked you up years ago. You never would have chased after Mercer or Aaron. You would have avoided danger and I would have gotten a lot more sleep," he tossed himself onto the bed in one swift motion, "come lay with me?"

She slowly crawled onto the bed and curled up next to him.

"Thank you," he smiled and wrapped his arms around her pulling her head onto his chest and holding on as tightly as he dared, "I love you Veronica."

"I know. You wouldn't have done all this for us if you didn't," she turned herself over and bent her face up to him, "I just… this is a lot to take in. It's going to take me some time to get to where I am really comfortable."

"Fair enough. I can respect that," he ran his fingers along her cheekbone and held her face, "Do you want me to leave?"

"No, the only thing I'm sure of is that I want you here. But…" she was afraid to ask, "can you sleep here? I mean Beth said something about a freezer."

"I can sleep here tonight- at least for awhile. If I am not here when you wake up I will be in the next room. Veronica I am so sorry about all of this. I asked Mac and Mick to help me so that we could get away without the Sorokins following. I needed Mac's computer skills and I made her promise not to tell you what she was up to. Please don't blame her. I had Mick show up in Mexico and attack me- well that wasn't exactly the plan but you weren't supposed to be there that day and we had to improvise. I am so afraid that others of my kind will find out about our baby and try to take her. Vampires are not really known for their compassion. I never meant to drag you into any of this… I… Veronica?" He nudged her slightly but his movements were greeted by quiet snoring. He kissed the top of her head and allowed himself to drift off into a comfortable slumber.

The morning sun rose and greeted Josef and Dick as they surfed on opposite sides of the small bay. The waves weren't as large as the ones in Neptune but the men needed a release and even small waves were a welcome aide. Logan lay on his board allowing himself to drift back toward the dock. The sun was beginning to take its toll on his body. _Maybe I am more vampire than I thought. _He smirked, knowing he would have to come inside soon, perhaps take a nap in his freezer. He had managed to stay in bed with Veronica all night. It was more comfortable than he had thought it would be mainly because he had put the air conditioning on full force in her room and blasted it through the night. _Thank God for multiple zone air conditioning!_

Veronica stood on the deck over looking the water watching the men in her life. She sipped her orange juice and contemplated her existence. _How did I get here? _She sighed inwardly and continued watching Logan as he drifted to the shoreline. Watching his smile dance and then fade across his face as she imagined him thinking the same things she was. She found a lounge chair and sat watching him, allowing the morning sunlight to revitalize her, dozing off in its welcoming warmth. A raindrop landed on her forehead sometime later and she opened her eyes. Logan was paddling out into the water again to join his friend. She cringed, _Are they friends now?_ She looked for Dick and found him halfway out into the bay, a storm was coming and the waves were kicking higher and higher as the wind grew stronger.

"They will be ok," Mac's voice dragged her out of her trance.

"You think?" she smiled and gestured for her to take the chair next to her.

"Yea, Dick is stubborn but he's also loyal. It will take him time but Logan is his family."

"What time is it?" Veronica suddenly realized she had no idea how long she had been outside.

"About eleven. I heard Dick stumble downstairs just after five this morning. He's got to be getting tired. You want to come explore the house with me? I've only really seen my room and the office downstairs. I've been down there all morning, I'm working on getting your dad here but since he is the Sherriff and an entire town would miss him if he just disappeared it's really hard."

"Is he safe in Neptune?"

"For the time being he is," She smiled at her friend, "Don't worry Bond, we got this! Mars investigations is small potatoes compared to what these vamps are capable of and Josef is a very powerful vamp. He's got connections everywhere."

"That's what I'm afraid of," shaking all frightening thoughts from her mind she laughed, "Let's go snoop before the weather gets worse and these boys come in!"

Dick yelped as he fell into the cool ocean water. He had lost his board sometime during his last ride and was being tossed by the rising surf. Adrenaline pumping through his veins he sprung up from the troth of the wave. He could see Logan headed in his direction and tossed his hand in the air signaling he was ok and heading in to shore. Logan followed suit. The storm was coming up the coast quickly and even vampires don't enjoy tempting mother nature.

They ran up the landing and into the pool house, tossing their surfboards against the far wall, "Those last few waves were pretty gnarly!" In his rush from that last wipeout Dick had forgotten he was not speaking to Logan at present.

"Amazing!" Logan echoed and tossed his friend a towel.

Dick's expression changed and he glared at Logan, "just because you caught a couple waves with me this morning does not mean everything is hunky-dory with us, dude. You lied to me- my entire life I thought 'Logan's the one dude who will always be there,' Cassidy killed himself, my dad, my mom both ditched me but you were there. And now I find out that our entire friendship was built on lies?"

"The only thing I lied to you about was being a vampire. I was protecting you. You couldn't know what I was. I didn't even know what I was at the time. We had no idea if I would ever turn back or if I was stuck as an adolescent boy for all eternity," Dick's face was stone and no matter what Logan said it did not lighten, "Please Dick, if I could go back I would, I would change a lot of things. I would fix this. Knowing what I know now I would have told you."

"Coulda, shoulda, woulda…" DIck crossed his arms and stormed off toward the main house.

Veronica and Mac had been snooping for well over an hour when Logan finally found them in his rec room, "find anything interesting?" He had been standing in the doorway watching as Veronica shrieked in pleasure from he latest go at his pinball game.

"I love pinball," she over ennunciated the words and ran to hug him. He smiled, pulling her into a tight embrace, "How was surfing?" She asked apprehensively.

"It was good," he rubbed his hand gently over her back, "right up until Dick remembered he wasn't speaking to me. Then he disappeared somewhere in the house. You guys haven't seen him have you?"

"We've been in here for awhile," Mac spoke up from behind a row of vintage arcade machines, "I could live in this room."

"It's one of my favorite rooms in the house," he smiled down at the tiny woman in his arms.

"I bet Dick is upstairs watching the storm. I can hear it kicking up," Mac suggested and disappeared up the spiral staircase in the back of the room.

Logan released his grip on Veronica and crossed the room to the jukebox on the far side. He carefully selected his song and offered his hand as tears filled her eyes with recognition of the song, their song. The only one they had successfully danced together to while surviving high school.

"_I talk to you as to a friend_

_I hope that's what you've_

_come to be_

_It feels as though we've_

_made amends_

_Like we found a way_

_eventually_

_It was you who picked_

_the pieces up_

_When I was a broken soul_

_And then glued me_

_back together_

_Returned to me what_

_others stole_

_I don't wanna hurt you_

_I don't wanna make you sway_

_Like I know I've done before_

_I will not do it anymore_

_I've always been a dreamer_

_I've had my head among_

_the clouds_

_Now that I'm coming down_

_Won't you be my solid ground?…"_

Their dance was only interrupted when Mick came bursting into the room urgency on his face. He looked at Veronica then to Josef. Josef nodded and Mick spoke, "I just talked to her. He is coming."


	6. Chapter 6

****Authors note: I know this is a short one but it answers some important questions- I love cliff hangers SORRY! :) Review Review Review! Please Please Please!****

"Who's coming?" Veronica, in her confusion was the first to respond.

Logan stood there, still holding her, as the music faded away and his previously joy-filled expression was replaced with panicked eyes, "How…?" but he couldn't finish the sentence, he had too many frightening scenarios rushing him at the moment. His head hurt and his thoughts were a blur, _How did he find out? Who could have betrayed me? Who knew where we were?_

"Logan," Veronica was shaking him back to the present, "Is it Gorya? Who? Who is coming?"

Josef's eyes fixed on Mick's, there was an understanding between them and Mick spoke, "Coraline called me this morning. She said he's on his way. She tried to stop him. He's coming to see for himself."

"Did you know she was alive? Did you tell her?" Ignoring Veronica's confused stare he approached his friend.

"I haven't heard from her in a decade. I thought for sure he had killed her when he took her away but she called shortly after you left to tell me she was ok. I asked her to let us know if he was coming back- if she could anyway. Apparently he left this morning and should be here by dawn. He was living somewhere in eastern Europe. But, no one knows we are here accept us and…"

They both looked to each other in realization and spoke in unison, "Kendall."

"Where's Beth? Get Mac and Dick out of here. Call Felix and tell him to go for Wallace. Send Guillermo for Sheriff mars, tell him life or death…"

Josef continued barking orders as Veronica's head spun, _Felix like Felix from the Pchers? He's alive? Who's Guillermo? _She caught pieces of what was being said, names mostly, _Lynn… Protect Duncan… Little Lilly… Wallace… Casey… Casey Grant?… Lamb… Lamb? LAMB! He was dead wasn't he? Were all these people she had known, had grown up with, where they all vampires? _The walls of reality were suddenly closing in all around her."JOSEF!" She shrieked above the conversation, "What is going on? Lamb? What?"

He turned to face her, the shock of her screaming "Josef" derailing his train of thought. In that moment he knew she had accepted what he was and who he was. He looked into her eyes, _She's angry and confused but… she's not running._ He was thankful for that at least, "I know this is a lot to take in Ronica but you have to trust me. We have to go, we cannot stay here any longer. I thought we had more time. I was wrong. I will explain it all on the plane. Now I need you to go upstairs and pack everything you brought with you. Pack everything I brought in for you. We cannot leave anything behind right now."

Veronica did what she was asked and charged upstairs. She may not know what was happening but she knew that she had to do exactly as Josef asked her, her child's life depended on it. _Who knew I would be such a momma-bear? _She threw the door open to her room and gasped when she saw Beth already throwing the clothing Josef had bought for her into her bag, "I'm trying to be neat about this for you but we really don't have time to waste." Veronica nodded and started checking the drawers and nightstands to make sure she was leaving nothing behind.

"Beth," She paused not sure if she should ask what was burning in her mind, "What's happening? Who is 'He' and why is he coming?"

Beth stopped and sat on the corner of the bed, her body tense, her face grave,, "A very old and extremely powerful vampire is on his way here."

"Who?" _As if I would know him! Sheesh Veronica!_

"Lance, his name is Lance, I think," the panic of the situation evident in her voice, "he's about the same age as Josef but he is the most powerful vamp Mick has ever encountered. He was turned sometime before the French revolution. Mick told me the story on the way over here but I am going to mess it all up." She covered her face with her hands before she continued, "The cure that Josef took to become Logan Echolls is his, he thinks it is anyway. He is the last of a very important vampire bloodline, he and his sister. The French Revolution, Bastille Day, the guillotine, all taught to school children as a cover for what it really was, an all-out vampire genocide. Decapitation is one of the few ways to kill a vampire. Lance was a royal- there were a bunch of brothers and a sister that were French royalty and also vampires. They found this cure that turned them human and used it to avoid extermination during the uprising. The sister, Coraline was Mick's syre, more than that- she was his wife once upon a time and she gave Mick the cure and then Josef tried to synthesis it and… the rest you know. Anyway, Coraline-the sister- called Mick this morning to tell him that her brother was coming and we needed to run as fast and as far as we could."

"He knows about," she gulped down her breath and hugged her stomach, "he knows about the baby?"

"Yes," Beth said plainly and continued placing Veronica's belongings in a bag, "he is probably more interested in that than anything else," She looked up at Veronica's tear-filled eyes, "I'm not trying to scare you. I'm so sorry! It's just… we have to move."

Mac and Dick were already downstairs when Beth and Veronica surfaced from her room, "Do we have everything?" Beth asked.

"I think so," Mac said clutching her laptop in one hand, Dick's arm in the other.

Dick smirked, "It's not like we were here long enough to ever unpack to begin with."

The doorbell rang and Mick and Josef surfaced to open it. A woman in tight black leather stood before them with a team of women dressed similarly, "Start upstairs and work your way down. Don't forget the pool house and the deck. We can't leave a scent anywhere." She nodded and her team dispersed.

"That's the cleaner," Beth nudged Veronica, "She cleans up vampire messes- someone like her is why the history books say the French revolution was a political battle and not a vampire war."

"Did you send someone to my apartment," Mick hollered at her, "You can leave my scent and Beth's but no one can know the others were there."

"I sent a team," she threw an evil smile at Josef, "Payment in the usual way?"

"Of course," he motioned for her to get to work and smiled, "It's good to see you again as well."

"What's the usual way?" Dick crossed his arms. He had not missed the naughty stare she had cast in Josef's direction.

"Untraceable money transfer to the Cayman Islands," He retorted quickly stopping Dick's thoughts in their tracks, "Everyone to the cars." he started pushing them out the front door, locking it behind them, and tossing a key at Dick, "You drive too. Follow behind Mick. If you lose him circle back to downtown Los Angeles before turning on the GPS and getting directions to Eden's Field. It's my personal airstrip. The address is saved in the memory. Do not leave anything in the car- bring the GPS with you. Got it?" Dick nodded in agreement and hopped into a red Ferrari Josef pointed to on the opposite end of the enormous garage, "Veronica you go with him."

Dick and Veronica both looked to Josef in shock, "But what if…" Mick cut her off.

"Lance does not know either of your scents. He knows mine and Josef's. If he follows anyone it will be us," Mick grabbed Beth's hand and led her to their waiting car.

"But what about Mac? He doesn't know Mac either?" Dick tried to grab her arm and pull her toward him.

"Mac has been working with Vamps for awhile now. Lance may not know her scent but we do not know who is with him," Josef touched the side of Veronica's face and kissed her gently, "See you at the airfield. I love you." he grabbed Mac and made a run for the yellow Xtera he had sent home after high school.

Mick peeled out of the driveway first with Dick close behind. Josef and Mac stayed back a moment, "Mac I need you to hack into the airline passenger lists. Find a listing for anyone named Lance coming from," He stopped, he had no idea where he would be coming from, "coming from anywhere." She looked at him like he was nuts, "I know it's a lot of people and we don't even know if that is the name he will be using but it's our best shot of staying ahead of him."

"I'm on it," she opened her laptop and started her satellite connection. She grabbed her cell phone and dialed Logan, the computer-geek-vampire she had been working with, "I need some help with something…Yup…connect to my laptop and help me break this firewall." She hung up her phone and in an instant he had remotely connected to her computer and was breaking through firewalls Mac had no chance of breaking from her mobile location.

Josef pulled a disposable phone from the glove box and started making frantic calls. In a matter of minutes he had called in every favor he was owed, and even some he wasn't, and had assembled a vampire army that could rival any force.

"All this to face one vampire?" Mac's voice shook as she spoke.

"Lance is not someone I ever wanted to piss off. Mick made him angry once and I warned him to stay away. This is not going to be an easy battle. We have to take him down Mac. If we don't Veronica and our child are doomed," He pressed his foot as hard against the accelerator as he could and they sped down the driveway and onto the street. Trees flashed past them, Mac thought for a moment they might actually be airborne.

As Josef had predicted Dick had lost Mick and was allowing the GPS to navigate him to the center of L.A. They sat a traffic light both nervously tapping their hands against their legs to the beat of the music blasting from the stereo, the streets around them eerily empty. The car suddenly shook and a loud _THUMP! _sounded signaling them someone was on the roof of the tiny sports car. Veronica reached for her door handle but froze when she saw the face in her window smiling back at her.

"Holy Shit." Dick mumbled under his breath.

"Alright Dick," Another figure from the drivers side of the car wretched the door open and pushed him away from the wheel, "I'm driving now. We are splitting up. See you at the plane!"

Veronica was still unable to think as she was lifted out of the car and escorted across the street into a waiting pick up truck, "Surprised to see me?" He smiled.

"That would be an understatement," She let a nervous laugh escape, "What are you dong here?"

"Saving your ass!" His smile broadened, "What not happy to see me Mars?"

"Dude?" was all Dick said as they sped off, taking the exit onto the interstate and booking it out of Los Angeles.

"So how are you Dick? I've missed you."

****I will name a new character after you if you are the first to guess who is in the car with each of them! :)****


	7. Chapter 7

****A/N:So I hade page breaks in this and the website keeps pulling them out no matter what I do! So if it seems as though the chapter is jumping around without any warning that is why! There should be a page break right after Veroncia screams, then again before the paragraph on Casey and finally one before Mac starts speaking. Reviews keep me motivated so send some my way! And I had no correct answers to my guessing game! boo! lol Enjoy!**

"Look Mars, I know we haven't always been the best of friends…" He spoke as he floored the accelerator.

"That's the understatement of the century," she chided.

"Let me finish," he looked at her as she nodded her head and gazed out the window not allowing herself to accept the walking dead sitting beside her, "ok. I know we haven't always been the best of friends and I know you hate my wife with a fiery passion…"

"WIFE! That thing is your WIFE?" Veronica's jaw hit the floor as she snapped her head around to face him. Thinking back she laughed, "well that does explain that little game of tonsil hockey in the elevator of the Grand during high school."

"Yea yea, you knew all along. I know I know, don't remind me."

"What can I say? I am what I am and I am Veronica Mars after all."

"Of course. Anyway I can't speak for my better half, God knows she can be a bitch when she wants to be, but everything I did, I did it to help Josef, he really should never have gotten involved with you, and truth be told I don't hate you as much as I just take pleasure in irritating you. Think of it is brotherly love," he grinned in her direction.

She stared at him blankly, "If that is brotherly love I am very thankful to be an only child." Lamb yanked the steering wheel and turned the truck sharply down an alleyway.

"Be careful!" She yelled and braced herself against the dashboard, "BABY ON BOARD!"

"Yea yea," he smirked, "I'm gonna be an uncle and all that gooble-de-gook. I am trying to ensure that my little niece or nephew in there cooks long enough to be born. There is a little black car back there that had been following us since we left your buddy. I'm trying to lose them."

"Whatever-Ok," she grabbed the seat as he jerked the car once more, "Ok. Uncle Donny it is- Just tell me next time you do that!"

"Ok… NEXT TIME!" He yelled as he swerved onto the interstate and blasted between two motorcycles and a tractor trailer.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Veronica Shrieked.

"What the fuck are you doing here Madison?" Dick was appalled at her presence.

"Saving your ass," she smiled sarcastically at him, "Cut the crap Dick. What do you think I'm doing here? Helping Josef- I owe him."

"So you are a…?"

"Yup."

"And Lamb, he's a…?"

"Yup. And they called you slow at Neptune High."

"I'm not as dumb as I look."

"Oh baby," she clutched his face in her hand, "yes you are."

He swatter her hand away and continued with his erratic line of questioning, "So you and Lamb are ah, together?"

"Going on four years," She smiled all the while keeping her eyes affixed to the road as they barreled through rush hour traffic.

"Four years? But the thing with Logan?"

"He wasn't strong enough to leave _her," _her words wreaked of distain, "and Don had just changed me, told me all the deep dark secrets," she chuckled, "He and Josef grew up together you might say which is why when Josef was in trouble he settled in Neptune where Don could keep an eye on him. We knew he needed to leave Neptune, and Veronica, cleanly so we staged the one thing we knew would make her push him away. I never slept with Josef. Anyway, it backfired, I mean look at where we are now! Josef found out what I did and was angry that we didn't clue him into our plans. That's why I owe him this favor."

"So…" Dick could not find a way to ask the question burning in his mind.

"No, I was not a vampire when we were screwing."

That seemed to ease his racing thoughts and he relaxed a little, "So you like living in L.A?" He had run out of questions for her to answer and he was reconciling himself to being chauffeured around at break-neck speeds by one Madison Sinclair- nay Madison Lamb.

He had been sleeping the day away when he got the call. Josef's voice was frantic as he quickly explained the situation and the danger they were all in. Casey owed Josef his life, after all hadn't Josef been the one to save him when Josh, the leader at the Mooncalf collective had syred him intending to use him in a short lived dream of total vampire domination? Hadn't Josef stopped the cleaners from destroying him when all they wanted to do was burn him mercilessly with most of the rest of the collective? Josef had bought off his parents, and sent the "deprogrammer" to teach him how to live peacefully in a world full of humans despite his blood-lust and had never asked for anything in return, until now. He didn't need to be reminded of his debt and Josef didn't mention it. All he needed to know was that the only two people who had stood up for him, protected him-even saved his life were in trouble and he had the means to help them.

He'd harbored a soft spot in his heart for Veronica Mars ever since he'd seen the fire dancing it's reflection through her eyes at the bonfire of the mooncalf collective. He had realized how much she truly meant to him at his grandmother's funeral as she held his arm to comfort him. No one else had cared. None of his 09er buddies had shown up, but Veronica had been there. He could still see her face, the caring in her eyes while she asked how he was really doing and the fear that shot across her when the "deprogrammer" had pulled him into the car. He had turned away Veronica's friendship at the time for fear of her safety but he had never forgotten her unconditional offer of friendship when he had needed it most. His biggest regret had been pushing her away when he realized exactly what he had been turned into and how truly dangerous he was to her.

Casey had left Neptune high and all but disappeared. When they thought about him at all everyone assumed that he had forgone college and taken his place at the helm of the family's publishing empire. Which he did, but he juggled his responsibilities remotely from a house hidden in a small corner of the Alaskan wild. It wasn't a big place by 09er standards but boasted five bedrooms and three baths, enough to harbor the motley crew that was currently en route. There was a game room and an indoor pool. Josef had immediately offered to fly in beds and anything else the human companions needed as he knew Casey had never quite gotten around to hiring a decorator or purchasing any furniture that didn't scream bachelor (or vampire). There was a restaurant style walk in freezer that housed enough blood to keep the vamps in the party stable at least for awhile and Josef would continue to have blood airlifted in for then every week just as he had done for the past couple of years, with a little help from Guillermo. The nearest town was one hundred miles south and the nearest neighbor twenty five miles to the west. He didn't even have to sleep in a freezer most of the time considering it was cold and dark most of the year. Casey had been quite happy in his little piece of the world. He had never longed for a companion but the thought of his old friends descending on him en mass had the promise to make an otherwise dull existence a little more cheery.

"Where are we going?" Mac's voice was barely a fearful whispered as they raced onto the unfamiliar airfield, a small plane waiting, doors open for their arrival.

"Casey's house," Josef jumped from the car and started tossing their luggage onto the plane without another word.

"Casey? Casey Gant?" Mac's jaw dropped. She had met several vampires during her employment with Josef but Casey Gant was not a name that had ever crossed her radar, at least not in tandem with the vamp empire. She hoped it had not crossed anyone else's desks either. She leapt from the car and bounded up the stairs to the plane. Her laptop battery had died on the way and they were running out of time to get everything she needed to get done finished. There was money to hide and safe houses to secure, not to mention a vampire attack to avoid and firewalls still to crack.

Mick and Beth had been the first to arrive and with Josef's added help they had the plane prepared when Veronica and Dick arrived with their unsolicited chaperones.

"Why the hell did you send _her_ to drive me?" Dick protested when he saw Josef heading toward the car, "of all people!"

"Because if I had sent her for Veronica she would not have survived, vampire or not," Josef smiled.

"She hates me huh?" Madison in her vampire state had grown a conscious and after several hours of lectures on the ethics and compassion from Josef and to a lesser extent, Lamb, she had realized how far from OK the last stunt she had pulled really was.

"Has Ronnie ever liked you?" Dick grabbed the bags from the back of the car and headed toward the plane. Calling back over his shoulder as he walked away, "Has anyone_ ever_ liked you?"

"You used to like me when I did that thing with my tongue and Donny thinks I'm pretty great," She yelled back full of venom.

"Oh give him a century. He'll change his mind," Josef pinched her cheek, leaving her standing alone to approach the truck that was pulling onto the field.

"Someone was following us but I lost them. We need to move," Lamb was out of the car and shouting, "her heart rate is really fast."

Josef had scooped Veronica up in his arms and was walking toward the plane, "I'm going to get her comfortable and then we need to dump the cars. There's a private lake about three miles that way," he motioned to a clearing in the distance, "Drive the cars into it."

"NO!" Dick screamed from the plane, "NOT THE FERRARI!"

"Madison and I can take care of the cars. You guys need to go… now," Mick patted Josef's back and reached out to hug Beth, "I will be a day behind you. Clarence and I are going to take care of what we can from this end."

"No, Mick…" Beth had until then been blissfully unaware that Mick would be staying behind.

"I will only be a day behind you," he stroked her face and headed towards the Ferrari.

Madison and Lamb quickly kissed goodbye, "I'm headed back to Neptune to keep and eye on things. Call me when you get there?" She made him promise and tossed Lamb a paper bag with several disposable cell phones in it.

"Scouts honor."

Veronica could not contain herself, "Scout? My ass. Why's he coming with us?"

"We need a pilot," Josef set her down on a couch as Lamb pulled the door closed, securing the cabin for take off.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N Yes I am alive and so is this story (so to speak!) No excuse for the length of time between posts! I know this one is short but it gets us to the where we need to be! :) Hope you enjoy! Reviews are always appreciated! Thanks!

Casey paced back and forth awaiting the arrival of his much anticipated guests. He hadn't seen Dick or Veronica since high school and it had been nearly as long since he had been in the presence of any human being. _Maybe living a life of complete solitude wasn't such a good idea after all?_ His inner monologue had left him questioning his life's choices, nervous that he wouldn't be able to control temptation when it arrived. He headed toward the kitchen to make sure his spread of food was just perfect. His mother might have been emotionally void but she knew how to entertain, but then all the 09er trophy wives knew how to throw one helluva party. He took a deep breath, allowing the scent of the food he no longer craved to engulf him. It was rare moments like these that made him miss being alive. He could remember the taste of pizza and the tickle of Coca Cola as he gulped it down. Never in all his days did he think he would ever long for a cool glass of that swill Dick called beer or a simple hot dog, a simple, $1.00 hot dog topped off with onions and ketchup . Eating one now was pointless but he had a giant tray of them out on the kitchen counter ready to be devoured by what he could only assume would be hungry guests. It was the first time since he had moved to this house that he had real food delivered, well more airlifted than delivered, and he had been so nervous with his selections- _What if I don't remember how to cook!_ He laughed to himself now at his thoughts.

The doorbell sounded and he flew to greet his friends, "Casey!" Veronica flung herself at him, "I didn't know! I'm so sorry." He smiled down at her and returned her embrace.

"It's good to see you too Veronica." He shook hands with Josef as the rest of his guests piled into his house entryway, "Where's Mick?"

"He'll be along tomorrow. Had some things to take care of in L.A." Josef's tone was somber and Casey did not press him for detail.

"Cool," Casey shrugged, "Ok guys kitchen is this way!" He lead the pack toward the back of his house, "I didn't know what everyone liked so I got a bit of everything. There's wine and soda and juice in the big refrigerator over there and Josef there's a smaller fridge upstairs for you. And Dick," He offered a smile to his once friend, "Don't worry. I didn't go cheap on the beer. Mugs are over there, kegs around the corner," Casey pointed to a stack of red plastic cups on the counter.

A smile crept across Dick's otherwise stern face, "Thank God!" Dick through his hands above his head in an energetic display of emotion, "that's the first thing that has gone my way in a week! Point me to the keg! It better be a big one!"

"Don't worry, my friend, I remember what you like!"

"Logan," Veronica gripped Josef's cool hand, "I need to lay down."

"Do you feel alright?"

"Logan!" Mac shrieked as she watched her friend ungracefully tumble forward, Josef dove to catch her as gently as he could.

Dick dropped the mug he was holding and ran towards the sound of Mac's scream, spilling beer all over the floor and cursing in frustration. He charged into the next room and shoved Josef away from Veronica, "What did you do to her?" Josef froze, shocked at the accusation.

"He didn't do anything Dick. She was fine and then she wasn't," Mac voiced an attempt to diffuse the situation, "Casey can you get me some water and a towel?" In an instant Casey was standing next to her dabbing Veronica's forehead with the cool washcloth.

"Somebody call 9-1-1!" Dick cried.

"Dick, this is the middle of nowhere, Alaska. There is no 9-1-1," Casey was speaking as calmly as he could, "besides do you really want to explain to someone that we are calling for help for a woman carrying a vampire child?"

"It's better than letting her die."

"She won't die," the pain in Josef's voice evident with each word, "I can still hear two heartbeats. Get her some water and get her to bed. I will stay…"

"I will stay with her," the venom in Dick's voice and the bullets shooting from his eyes kept Josef at a distance, "you've lied to me. You've trapped us in God knows where, Alaska. Veronica is hurt. And you made me spill my beer. Don't. Mess. With. Me." he gently scooped Veronica up in his arms and turned to face Casey ,"which way is her room?" Dick asked in the calmest, most polite voice her could muster.

"Up the stairs, third door on the left," Casey gestured.

"Dick. You can't keep me away from her!" Josef's voice was cautious.

"Tonight I can," Dick huffed and marched up the stairs out of sight cradling her tiny body.

Dick used his foot to pushed the Door open. There was a large armoire next him and a full sized bed piled High with thick blankets in the far corner. Veronicas meager suitcase was perched on a loveseat that found it's home below an enormous picture window with blackout curtains. He Carefully crossed the room trying not to jostle his precious cargo and lay Veronica on the bed. She stirred, opening her eyes and smiling up at him, "what happened?" she cooed.

"You passed out. Go to sleep Ronnie. I'm going to stay with you tonight."

She smiled, "I'm not quite sure when it happened Dick but somewhere along the line you became my rock." she rolled onto her side allowing her back to rest against him as he sat on the edge of the bed next to her.

"I've been called worse," his face brightened momentarily, "go to sleep. I promise not to feel you up in your sleep! Scouts honor."

Veronica inwardly rolled her eyes as she let her tired lids droop to a close, "you were never a scout, Dick."


	9. Chapter 9

****A/N I promised there would be more to this story! My kids are FINALLY back in school so if all goes according to plan I will get my free time back to write! This chapter is a little light BUT it gets the main characters to where I need them to be for the next few chapters... a necessary evil, if you will. Anyway if there is anyone still out there reading this shoot me a review and let me know you want me to keep this up. Thanks! Enjoy!****

Chapter 9

"Knock, Knock," she whispered into the room to see if Veronica and Dick were awake.

"Good Morning," Dick stood before her wearing only a towel.

Embarrassed, Beth turned her back on the half naked man, her cheeks a blushing rosy pink, "I was just coming to see if you would like to have some breakfast with me? I think I might be able to help you accept what it is you have been dragged into. I am human too."

He couldn't see her face but he was pretty sure she was smiling, "Yea, you must be some kind of psycho or something. This is so not cool. It's like a movie where the hot chick falls in love with the vampire only she doesn't know he's a vampire until he sucks her blood."

"Ummmm…. Ok. Look it was hard for me at first too," she turned, not caring if he was clothed or not, "and then I realized that Mick did not chose to be a vampire. He was living day by day just like the rest of us and then, Coraline showed up and that was it. He was doomed. He never had a chance."

"I guess, but Log- Josef had a choice. He could have told me the truth."

"He could have. But would you have believed him? Would you have believed that your friend was actually a 400 year old vampire under a spell?"

"I would have asked him where he got his E from because he must have gotten a bad batch."

"Look, I don't know you and Veronica at all and honestly, I barely know Josef. He's Mick's friend. All this cure stuff happened soon after I met him but from what I do know of Josef he is fiercely loyal and extraordinarily protect of those he loves. He helped Mick save me once. Did he tell you that?"

Dick turned his eyes down to the floor, "no."

"He stood guard in the hall all night, making sure Veronica and YOU were safe. Did you know that?"

"I didn't…" Dick looked up at her face, not thinking he let go of his towel and ran his hands thru his hair.

"Wow there boy!" Veronica had finished her shower and was now standing behind Beth both of them unable to look at anything but Dick's package.

"Oh you love it!" He grabbed his shorts off the bed, stepping into them as he ran out of the room, "Thanks Beth!"

"Both girls stood giggling in the doorway as he ran off, "no worries!"

"So?" Beth turned to a still gaping Veronica, "Breakfast?"

"Yes please! The baby is Hungry!"

"Dude! There you are!" Dick shouted from the opposite end of the long hallway. "we need to talk. Logan, I…" Dick started but was cut off by Josef.

"Dick, I know what you are going to say but I had to make sure she was ok so I stayed…"

"LOGAN! Let me talk," Josef nodded, "I get it."

"You get what exactly?" Confusion crept over Josef's face.

"I get why you didn't tell us the truth. It's not cool, but I get it now," He smiled and raised his arm placing his hand on Josef's shoulder.

"So all that and we are ok now?" Josef was dumbfounded.

"Beth explained it. She said it was for our own protection and we never would have believed you anyway, which I wouldn't have."

"You really are that simple huh dick?"

"Yup, just had to have a hot chick lay it out there for me," Dick's hands mimicked the female form in the air and he grinned.

Josef smiled for the first time in days. Dick had forgiven him, and although he would never be a fan of his vampire status he had accepted it as a truth. In an instant the smile was gone, "Something's wrong," was all Josef said as he disappeared leaving Dick standing alone.

Chaotic shouts had interrupted Josef's momentary bliss. The front door flew open as Mick and Don Lamb rushed inside yelling loudly to gain the attention of the house. Beth stood frozen in her tracks as she recognized the third face to burst thru the door, "Coraline."

"Hello Beth."


	10. Chapter 10

****Hello ****my ****darlings! ****I ****have ****no ****excuses ****for ****my ****lack ****of ****updates! ****I ****hope ****this ****satisfies ****those ****of ****you ****still ****out ****there! More will come shortly, I am fine tuning the next installment right now!****

Chapter 10

Beth remained firmly planted where she stood, her feet encased within imaginary concrete blocks, weighing far more than she could lift. Mick laid a comforting hand on her shoulder, "It's ok. She's here to help," he whispered. Beth remained silent, her eyes casting a deadly warning toward her one time friend.

"We should catch up sometime, Beth," Coraline's voice echoed around in Beth's mind as she tried to dissect the meaning behind the seemingly innocuous words, "Of course, with my big brother about to descend and kill us all now is really not the time." Her lips curved, a rueful smile overtaking her otherwise pretty features.

"Right so where is he now?" Josef was the first to break the silence that shrouded the room.

"Somewhere over the Atlantic," Coraline's gaze was in a stalemate with Beth's but her words were directed at Josef.

"Does he know where we are?" Dick didn't fully understand the weight of what was happening but his nervousness fed off of the urgency in the people around him.

"Probably not, but I wouldn't count on it. He always seems to find what he's looking for," Coraline's voice sounded like nails on a chalkboard to Beth and she outwardly cringed.

"What's our next move? Josef, you know he is never going to lose interest in this," Lamb pointed to Veronica's stomach. Her arms immediately coiled around her midsection shielding her baby.

"I know," Josef reached an arm around Veronica's waist allowing his hand to hover over her arms strengthening the protective cocoon she had formed there, "but I can't let him near them."

"So we fight? We make a stand," Casey's voice snapped Veronica out of her silent trance and her mind swirled with the very real threat that she would loose Logan again. She was powerless, not a sensation Veronica Mars was used to. Not one she liked in the slightest.

"No…." but the rest of her words died on her lips as her body fell from beneath her. Lamb and Josef both dove for her as her eyes closed and she collapsed. The stress of this new epic battle combined with the demands of her pregnancy overtook her for the third time in a week and she slumped into Josef's terrified embrace.

Days passed, that turned into weeks, slowly cascading into months and Veronica did not wake. Her stomach swelled and began to ripple as the baby turned summersaults in her tiny body. Still she did not wake. They moved between safe houses, flying out at a moments notice, seeming to be constantly one step ahead of Lance. Coraline had drawn a line and danced dangerously across it between the loyalty her brother assumed she held for him and the allegiance she chose to pledge to Josef and Veronica. She had lived centuries: sat at dinner tables with William Shakespeare, held tryst with Victor Hugo, and at one time had counted Emily Brontë and Jane Austin as two of her closest friends. Never had she seen a love like the one this gaggle of characters were risking their beings to protect. It was an all-encompassing love that enveloped everyone around it in a desire, a desperate need to guard it and ensure its survival. Logan and Veronica were like two characters in an epic romance novel- meeting on page one and then not again until page 147, all the while seeking each other's comfort, constantly missing each other by moments, at no fault of their own. Their love was the tortured result of missed opportunities that kept the reader eagerly turning pages in the hopes that they find one another once more resulting in the often sought after but rarely found happily ever after. Despite the tragedy of Veronica's current state the emotions surrounding her bedroom were palpable and seemed to demand the utmost respect.

Beth's glares no longer affecting her, Coraline had issued a silent truce and no longer overtly antagonizing her, keeping distance from Mick unless his familiarity was absolutely necessary. Beth in her own right had tried to keep the snide comments to a minimum as they breezed across continents, preferring to concentrate on the grander plan of their marathon fight for survival.

They were somewhere off the coast of Australia when Veronica's silence ceased. Her body never moved but she cried out in her comatose state; begging for Logan to help her, calling out for his comfort. She was never alone, though none knew if she was aware of their presence or not. A constant stream of visitors sat at her bedside: Beth, Mick, Lamb, Casey, Mac and Dick. Logan – always Logan, and yes he was Logan now- no more the businessman whose eternal life had made him a force with which to reckon. He was suddenly a scared little boy with human emotions. He sat with her day and night, barely sleeping, never leaving her side. His unyielding desire for her to wake silently screamed from his subconscious every time her lips allowed his name to escape her otherwise still form. He was telling her their story for probably the millionth time when Mac came into the room. She was waiting for the inevitable pause that came after he finished the lament of their multiple break-up scenes, his regret for every moment they were apart silencing him, before she spoke.

"So Dick has an idea," Mac pulled a chair up beside Logan and placed her hand on his, "Coraline thinks it might work, it might help."

"Might? Might, isn't good enough."

"Josef..."

"Logan. I'm Logan. She doesn't call for Josef in her sleep. She wants Logan and that's who I will be," his eyes pleaded into Mac's and she relented.

"Logan. We have been hiding for months and so far we have been lucky. Lance hasn't found us but how long can we really hide here? How long can we convince Keith and Wallace that we are running from Gorya? At some point Weevil is going to tell Sheriff Mars that Gorya has 'disappeared.' At some point," She gulped, "…at some point Veronica is going to go into labor. We don't know if she will ever wake and then where will we be? It's hard enough toting her around with us but a baby too? Dick thinks that we should go after Lance. Coraline thinks she knows where he is. She went to check it out."

"Did you draw the short straw?"

"What?"

"Someone had to confront me about this eventually. Everyone has been dancing around my feelings for months. I hear the whispers 'Don't upset him.'- you are all afraid that if you do I will go after his royal ass by myself," Mac tried to respond but Logan continued, "and don't for a second think that I have not thought about it. I could kill him. I could hunt him down and kill him like the rabid animal he is and…There is no reason for any of the rest of them to die for me."

"Logan we are all in this together," A voice lurking in the doorway interrupted his irrational rant, "Stop acting like you are the only one who loves her. She's my family too. She is my responsibility too. I promised her I would protect her. I promised her I would take care of her. You were gone. You died and left us all alone."

"I was gone a week, to protect you Dick."

"A week. A year. Forever. Same difference when you think someone you love is dead. Don't put me through that again. I already lost one brother. Don't make me lose another and Veronica is the closest thing to a sister I have. If you changed me I could fight too," Dick slammed his fist against the doorframe with a loud thrapp and stormed off down the hallway, leaving Logan speechless, his jaw dropping to the floor.

_Change __him? __That__'__s __his __brilliant __idea?_ "Changing Dick is not an idea! It is a death sentence," Logan finally spoke.

"He was a wreck when you were gone, you know?" Mac reached her hand out to weave her fingers between Veronica's, "We thought we were going to lose him. I thought he would drink himself into oblivion but he didn't. He stepped up- he stepped up for you."

"When did dick turn into a knight in shinning armor? Has he always been braver than the rest of us? We just didn't notice?"

Mac shrugged, smiling slightly, "Maybe we never gave him enough credit. He wants to help keep them safe. He just doesn't think he is strong enough… he… he was serious about asking you to change him," Logan's gaze left Veronica and his eyes buried themselves in Mac's warm chocolate orbs, "Before you start arguing with me about it- he knows it's a bad idea. But he wants to help."

The sunlight that had previously been slipping through the small window seemed to disappear on queue as the silence cast an eerie shadow over the room.

"Are there any other ideas?"

"Just one."

"Tell me."

"How is the sunlight affecting you?" confusion emerged from Logan's eyes as Mac spoke.

"I'm still ok for short periods, I think. I was fine surfing the other day and we were out in the water for hours after sunrise. I had a headache but that was about it."

"Well that's half the battle then," Mac smiled, "We need to pack."

"What's going on?"

"Casey has a private island off the coast of Alaska, near his house. There aren't any trees and only one small house. You, Me, Dick, Duncan, and Veronica are going to go there. Clarence is bringing Duncan here now. He is nearby and he knows what's happening. He says he is all in. Mick and Beth are taking Lilly to Beth's mother's house with their foster kids. Beth is going to stay with the kids there. Mick will meet us at Casey's."

"I will get the Duncan situation in a minute but Mac! Have you people really thought this through? A human take down of the most powerful vampire known? You cannot be serious! Mac! It's a suicide mission! They will all die. You will die."

"No we _could_ die. We've weighed the risks," She squeezed his hand solemnly and stood, "We all love you. We all love Veronica. This baby is going to be born in 8 weeks, maybe less, if we don't act now you will be running for the rest of your existence. Get your things together Logan; we are leaving as soon as Clarence gets here with Duncan."

"Mac, you cannot do this!" Logan's voice was pained.

"Yes. We. Can." She enunciated every syllable, "While you have spent the last five months in here with V, Dick and I have talked this through with Mick and Lamb. We've learned to fight from Clarence. We are prepared. Lance will be weakened by the sun and we HAVE YOU, Logan, our secret weapon! The sun doesn't affect you the way it does Mick and Casey but you are just as strong as they are! You can do this. You said a minute ago you could hunt him down and kill him yourself," Logan nodded- her words slowly forming coherent thoughts in his head, "Do it! Kill him. The rest of us will be there to slow him down. We can distract him."

"You can't distract him! How can you distract him?" Logan was frantic now.

"I don't know exactly. Shoot guns at him, fire arrows, and flamethrowers? If I have to I will go all Third Wife on his ass and use my own blood. He hid the last time humans came looking for him, right? The French Revolution?" she wrapped her fingers tightly around Logan's shoulders, "We can do this Logan. Let us help you. I've been Q since high school. It's my turn to be Bond- just this once."

"The blood thing only works in the movies, Mac, and guns and arrows will only slow him down for a minute."

"A moment is all we need. Think about it. It's the middle of June! If Coraline convinces him that Veronica has already had the baby and you have them hidden on an island that gets battered by the sun 24 hours a day is he really going to think _you_ are there? No! He doesn't have any idea that the sun no longer hurts you. He will think she is with other humans. Coraline says he thinks he is invincible! He will come for the baby, and because of the suns effects on his vamp minions, he will come alone."

If blood had still run through Logan's veins it would have all drained in that instant. _He __will __come __for __the __baby_. Suddenly the world snapped into place and Logan knew what he had to do. He knew this really was their only chance, "Ok Mac. I'm in. But tell Dick to find a Coast Guard ship. Mick and Lamb and Casey and Felix, and anyone else we can contact need to be near by and prepared to attack from a distance. Tell him to get a boat with a large cabin and the biggest guns he can find. Maybe they can blow his boat or plane or whatever to smithereens before Lance even makes it to land. Make sure it is a Coast Guard boat, Navy maybe? I don't know. Something that should be there otherwise he will be suspicious. Not a research boat- they wouldn't have guns. Get Clarence in on this- he will know how to get his hands on what we need."

"That's the Logan we were missing! We knew if we gave you the crap idea first that you would cave."

"I would _NEVER _syre Dick, or any of the rest of you, Mac."

"I just wish…" Mac paused as a single glistening tear escaped her eye, "I just wish Veronica were awake."

A nervous laugh breezed over Logan's lips, "Veronica does enjoy a good chase scene, as long as the bad guy gets it in the end."

"He will Logan," Dick stepped back into the room, "Come on Macaroni, let's get your stuff. Duncan and Clarence are here and we're almost ready to go."

"One more thing, Mac," Mac stopped in her tracks, "You aren't getting away that easy. Duncan Kane? Really? What? Piz wasn't available?"

She smiled and shook her head, "Actually…"

"MAC?"

"Just kidding."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

How many ways can a man die? Death of the mind? Body? Soul? No one piece of a man can perish without killing the other two -sometimes slowly, sometimes all at once, but always in tandem. His soul was acutely connected to Veronica's existence. How long could he survive should she die? Logan sat contemplating his own mortality as he vacantly stared out the plane window.

"Penny for your thoughts," Duncan shifted in his seat so that he was facing Logan.

"For you? The price is much, much higher."

"Yea. I deserved that, though you have always made being a jackass work for you."

Logan shrugged turning his gaze to Veronica's face, "Psychotic jackass. If you are going to use the title she dubbed me at least get it right, Donut."

Both men nervously laughed as an uncomfortable silence fell over the cabin. Dick and Mac were curled up together snoring quietly, Mick was sitting at a small table glued to his laptop, and Casey had joined Lamb in the cockpit of the small plane, leaving the former best friends alone with the slight woman they both loved.

"I didn't have a choice, you know?" Duncan broke the tension first.

"I said the same thing to Dick last week. If the next words out of your mouth are 'it was for your own good' I will kick your ass up and down this plane."

Duncan smiled, "Feeling a little guilty are we Logan? I was trying to avoid getting your ass thrown in jail as an accomplice to kidnapping."

"I know."

Duncan let out a single laugh before he spoke again, "So you and Veronica?"

"Got a problem with that?"

"Nope. Just didn't see it coming."

"We were happy."

"Were?" Duncan's eyebrow rose.

"Well, she's unconscious and we have been running for months. Yeah. We were…but we will get there again once this is all over and the baby is born. We can be a family."

"A vampire family?"

Logan looked at his friend as though he had just stabbed him, "Yes."

Duncan considered this for a moment, "So you are prepared to live all of eternity without her? Let her grow old and die like the rest of us mere mortals?"

Logan paused, taking a deep breath before continuing, "We will live however she chooses with whomever she chooses. Rather or not she wants to be a vamp is up to her. I can't make that choice for her."

"So what you're saying is you are a vampire with a heart of gold? A real life Carlisle Cullen?" Duncan laughed.

"I don't know about a heart of Gold but want me to show you my fangs?" Logan hissed and his eyes flashed a pure white. Duncan sat staring awestruck by the sight before him, "Don't pee your pants or anything man. I wasn't going to drink you. You are not my type."

Duncan shook his head, pulling himself back to the present, "Dude." Was the only word he could seem to make his mouth form.

"Got you to shut up, anyway. Your face is priceless right now," Logan laughed, a real laugh for the first time in months, "Thank you!" He reached his hand across the aisle and placed it on his friend's shoulder.

"You're welcome? CW gave me the talking points before he left but I wasn't quite prepared for the eyes. Damn Logan. You really are a vampire."

"That I am. And you, Duncan, are a fugitive. Where in the world have you been hiding out?"

"That is a very long and pretty uninteresting story. Lilly and I bounced around for awhile: France, China, even Morocco for a brief period. We ended up in Australia- that's where CW caught up to me. He's been helping us ever since. When he came and told me you were in trouble, that Veronica..." Duncan squeezed back the tear that was threatening escape from his eye, "…When he told me that Veronica was in trouble and that I might be able to help. I had to come. I would do anything for you and Ronnie, man."

"Thank you. I don't know what I would do without her. I lived hundreds of years before she was even born. Lifetimes passed before I met her and yet I can't imagine life without her. If Lance gets to her…"

"He won't. Look I may not know exactly what I am up against but Clarence seems to think this crazy plan of Dick and Casey's is going to work."

"We still don't know what the baby will do to her. There are so many things that can go wrong with normal human childbirth. Throw my vamp DNA into the mix and God only knows what will happen,"

Duncan's eyes bore into Logans, "She is not going to die. She is not going to die Logan."

"Keep telling me that."

"She does need a blanket, though. She's shivering," Duncan stood and laid his hand on Veronica's face, "Logan she feels like a popsicle."

"What? She feels fine to me."

Duncan moved his hand from Veronica to Logan, "Of course she would feel fine to you! You sleep in a refrigerator!"

Horror flashed in Logan's eyes, "Miiiiiiiick!" Logan bellowed as he leaped to his feet, grabbing a blanket from a cupboard, and throwing it at Duncan.

"What's happening?" Mac's groggy voice mumbled from behind a seat cushion.

"Veronica is freezing!" Duncan yelled as he wrapped the blanket around Veronica and rubbed his hands up and down her arms creating heat with the friction.

"Like a freezer?" the three words came from Mick's mouth and stabbed Logan's heart.

"Like a freezer," Logan deadpanned- all life disappearing from his voice, "what have I done."

"Not you," contended Mick, "No, not you. The baby."

"The baby is doing this?" Duncan was frantically trying to warm Veronica, "How do you know?"

"That's what I was looking at on the computer. I was trying to find anything I could on this, situation."

"You googled vampire babies?" Dick made his conscious presence known, always the comic relief.

"Yes, I am guilty of googling. There wasn't much information out there, at least not much that can help us. Most of what I found told me everything that's happened to Bella and Edward's baby- fictitious characters really won't help much."

"Get to the point Mick," Logan stood, helplessly watching Veronica's unconscious body start to shake with cold.

"Then someone sent me this weird email, it was all in Japanese so I only understood about every tenth word, but it talked about how hours before the child was born it seemed like the baby turned the mother's body into a freezer, somehow forcing the body temperature to plummet."

"It's resting before it has to come out and face the sun," Josef's voice cracked.

"Veronica is the baby's bed. It's turning her into a freezer. She's in labor," sudden realization dawned on Mac.

"How long can she endure this before hypothermia sets in?" Duncan looked up at Mick.

"If the email gave a timeframe I didn't understand it, but speaking as a medic, not long. You've seen Deadliest Catch right? It's freezing her from the inside out."

"We need to land, fast," Duncan had ceased to try to warm her, realizing he was fighting a loosing battle.

The friends stood staring, open mouthed, and bug-eyed at Veronica, trying to piece together the reality within the Grimm tale they seemed to be stuck living. The plane rattled as they pushed through turbulence. Dick had moved into the cockpit and yelled at Lamb, "Haul ass dude! Baby on the way… we think…Maybe… we're not really sure but probably."

"Planes don't really work like that dumbass! We are still an hour out."

"A lot can happen in an hour dude."

"We'll do our best," Casey reassured as he pulled maps from a compartment, trying to locate a closer landing strip.

In the cabin Veronica's elfin frame started to convulse. Not the violent tremors of a seizure but the moderate shakes of muscles shifting. Her back arched and her voice cried out in pain every few minutes. Her eyes began to flutter.

"I think she's… Is she? I think she's waking up!" Mac screamed at Logan and Mick who were hovering over the laptop Mick had been using.

"Of course she is waking up for this," Logan's self-loathing evident in his tone.

"I don't think we have much time. If those are contractions they are pretty close together," Mick rolled up his sleeves and propped a pillow under her head.

"It's too early isn't it?" Logan's eyes were pleading.

"Hell if I know," the frustration bursting forth in Mick's tone, "Mac go grab some towels from the closet back there. Dick, find me any medical supplies you can. I think there is a small first aid kit in the galley. It's better than nothing. Logan, you are useless to me from across the cabin. Get over here and hold her hand or something. Duncan, Help me prop her up."

"I don't understand why this is happening. You can still hear the baby's heartbeat right? Am I just imagining it?"

"Yeah, Josef I hear it."

"So the baby must be human, right? Give me something here man!"

"I have no idea but I think we are going to find out pretty soon. Mac I need your help. Hold this," Mick placed a clean towel in Mac's open arms, "Mac, can you try to calm her down? Just keep eye contact. Veronica do you know what's happening?"

Veronica nodded in the affirmative, "Im… having… the… baby… too… early?"

"You have been unconscious for months, Ronnie," Dick tossed the first aid kit in Mick's general direction and wheeled a small oxygen tank and mask he had found next to Veronica's head, "It's cool though. You didn't miss much." All faces turned to Dick as if to say, 'you have got to be kidding us.'

"What? We sat around a lot and logged a ton of flight time." Winking at Mac he continued, "I am officially a member of the mile high club, right Macster?"

Mac's face flushed beet red and Logan spoke, "Remind me to disinfect the restroom. No offense Mac."

If Mac had not been occupied with more pressing matters Dick would have needed a parachute, "What? Just trying to mellow everyone. Tough room."

"Ok I need to concentrate," Mick ended the superfluous conversation with stern words and a threatening glance at Dick, "Veronica, how do you feel?"

"Can't breath," she whispered, "my chest…. It's freezing."

"Dick is there a mask for that O2 tank you found?"

"Yup," he gently placed the oxygen mask over Veronica's panicked face, stroking her hair with the back of his hand as he placed the rubber band around her head, "It's gonna be ok Ronnie."

Veronica caught Dick's gaze and held it through her next several contractions, Mac held her hand, Logan whispered soothing words, and Mick tried to prepare himself to deliver a baby. Duncan excused himself to the cockpit to 'light a fire under Lamb's ass,' as he put it. The plane shook and Veronica's body shifted, slamming her hand hard against the armrest. A scream of pain escaped her lips as her skin tore. Too cold to bleed properly, thick globs of blood clung to her skin.

"This baby needs to come out. Now!" Logan yelled at Mick, "Her blood is freezing."

Mick's mind shifted into overdrive as he played out all the scenarios he could, "We have to perform a C-section."  
"We? We can't… we…" Logan ran out of words and silence overtook the room.

"We don't have drugs, or instruments," Mac was the first to speak, "we can't do a cesarean. Do any of us even know how to do that?"

"I was a medic before I was turned. I know how it _should_ be done. I… we have to. If her blood is too cold to bleed it's to cold to circulate properly. She will die if we don't get that baby out of her and warm her up. I wish I knew what to expect. If I spoke Japanese…"

"Japanese? Why didn't you say so? I speak Japanese."

"No you don't," Mac smacked Dick's face with her curt words.

"For true dudes," Dick spoke, crossing his fingers over his heart as he surveyed the room, "My dad was an international businessman, before her went to prison, and Hello? Three words for you Tsu Na Mi," Blank stares met Dick's eyes. Pointing to himself he continued, "Surfer? Cowabunga?"

"Tsunami is one word, you moron," Logan chastised his friend, "and banging a Geisha does not make you fluent in Japanese. Stop messing around, Dick."

"Fine! Don't believe me but I have surfed both Chiba and Okinawa and don't knock Geisha! Asian chicks are hot," Dick mumbled as he huffed over to the computer Mick had earlier abandoned.

Ignoring Dick's stupidity and focusing on the task at hand Mick shifted into medic-mode and started searching for a sharp knife and a means to sterilize it. Finding only a kitchen knife and a bottle of rubbing alcohol from the small first aid kit he somberly approached Logan, "what do you want me to do? We have to get that baby out of her before it kills her."

"Don't hurt her," Veronica tried to pull the oxygen mask from her face.

"We will do everything we can to keep you and your baby safe, V," Mac soothed.

"Shut up!" Dick screamed, "Change her Logan!"

"No I…" Logan's brain was not processing things very quickly but this was not something he needed to consider.

"Listen to me. If you want her to live- you have to change her. Now. This email says that the baby will keep freezing her until her organs stop working and her skin cracks," Dick paused, gulping in air, "like cracks, cracks; as in splits wide open like the grand canyon."

"Where did you even get this email Mick? I mean vamps cannot have children- how is this out there?"

"Cindy Mackenzie, the voice of reason! Thank you!" Logan's voice was grateful though his eyes were pained.

"Coraline told me that one of her brothers, Antoine, secretly sent his human lover away to protect their child early on during the revolution. They didn't understand the power of their cure fully and he wanted her and their child protected from the rest of the family."

"Well this would have been nice information to know about… oh ten years ago or so."

"Believe me Logan, I know, but she didn't know we were working on recreating it. Anyway, she thought the woman fled somewhere in Asia, but she wasn't certain. Her brother disappeared months later. She thought he went to join them but she never spoke to him again. She and Lance have spent the last century thinking they were the only two of their bloodline left. She's not so sure now, after seeing Logan's devotion to Veronica she started wondering if maybe her brother was still alive, hiding from Lance to protect his child. She's been trying to track him down for months now. I've been researching for awhile with no luck until this morning when I got that email. I am assuming it is from her."

"Dude, the last line of this message says, _see you soon_," I guess that means she is coming to meet us.

"What else does it say Dick?" Logan pleaded.

"Oh look who all of a sudden believes I speak Japanese, _Ahondara_…"

"Dick!"

"Sorry Mac-aroni. Yea it says that her body will freeze and then break apart like… like… glass that goes from hot to cold too fast and the baby will rise from the cracks."

"Rise from the cracks?" Duncan's confusion was reflected on everyone's faces.

"Hold on, let me reread this part," All eyes were on Richard Casablancas as he translated the text in his head, "ok it sounds like the part of her body closest to the baby, her stomach area will freeze the most and crack first and the biggest cracks in her skin and muscles will be directly over the baby."

"Like a natural C-section, if there is such a thing?" Mick was suddenly deep in thought.

"I think so," Dick paled and he kept reading to himself.

"What else Dick?" Logan implored.

"She will die," Dick choked out, "Dude you have to change her. She can't die."

"But if you change her how will you get the baby out? I mean aren't you guys made of stone or something?"

"Duncan, enough with the Twilight references," Logan chastised, "Those are fiction! Some middle aged woman wrote them to cater to horny housewives."

"Sorry, there's not exactly a lot of information out there about real life vampires."

"What do you think Mick?" Mac cooed, the emotional toll of the day coming through in her timid voice.

"I think we could do it. I mean, we can get shot, and beaten just like anyone else, we just don't bleed a lot and heal really fast. In theory, if we are quick and wedged something in the cut of her skin it should hold open until we removed it and we should be able to get the baby out."

"In theory, is better than certain death," Duncan looked to Logan as he spoke, "I think you should do it."

"I… I…Mick? I don't…" Josef Kostan always operated as if he were invincible and Logan Echolls had spent his teenage years as king of the 09ers, never questioning his abilities, never afraid to challenge a biker gang or the Iris and Russian mobs. In this moment, with this girl, and this child, he had nothing but fear seeping through his pours, "I don't know if she even wants…Mick… Sarah. I can't."

"I've never syred anyone, Josef, I…"

"Who's Sarah?" Duncan extracted the single name from Logan's muted rambling.

"She was a woman Josef tried to syre half a century ago. She was his lover. After 50 years in a coma she didn't make it," Lamb had left Casey in the cockpit to check Veronica's status, "I'll do it. I syred Madison without any problems. Let me help."


	12. Chapter 12

**Review please! :)**

Chapter 12

"Josef?" Lamb stood beside his friend, reaching an arm out to touch the man's shoulder, "I can do this. Let me do this," His voice rang in cadence as he tried to convince himself as well as Logan, "Let me do this," He repeated hoping his desperate tone would snap his friend out of the trance into which Logan was quickly sinking.

Veronica screamed. A high pitched shriek that split the air and pulled Logan back to the now, "What if it doesn't work? I can't…I can't condemn her to that…I won't make that decision for her…"

Taking in a breath Lamb repeated his earlier mantra, "I'm making the decision for both of you. Let me do this. I couldn't help her in Neptune when she came to me. I've carried that for years, I let Cassidy Cassablancas kill a busload of children because I was too busy trying to protect you to help her. I can do this. Let me help her now."

The entire airplane was on edge. The mere mention of Cassidy's name and Mac and Dick were rendered useless, overcome with the pain of yesteryear. Snapping back from her catatonic state by another of Veronica's piecing screams Mac found words, "I think you should let him Logan."

"But…"

"Logan, she will die. She will die _soon_. If you want this baby to have a mother, please, let him try," Mac pleaded.

Logan nodded, kissing Veronica's forehead and taking a step away from her. She tried to reach towards him but her body was so weakened that her arm barely twitched.

"Ronnie, we have to do this," it was Dick who found the courage to look her in the eye and tell her fate. He bent down next to her, his voice barely above a whisper, his words lost to the rest of the room by the volume of her next scream but her eyes told them that she understood. She knew what was to become of her and she accepted it. She turned her head slightly, making eye-contact with Lamb and nodded so slightly that even the vampires in the room nearly missed it.

"Get me a knife," Time stood still in Lamb's mind. His brain told him what to do in tiny segments. _Left foot. Right foot. Left foot. Kneel. _"I'm sorry Veronica, this is going to hurt." _Lean forward. Open mouth. Bite down. _At the sensation of his ragged teeth on her neck Veronica's screams personified a new kind of pain and were constant now. _ Release jaw. Cut arm. Drip blood in her mouth. Stand up. Left foot. Right foot._ He silently walked back to the cockpit stopping only to acknowledge Logan with a nod, his brain still processing what he had done. When he had changed Madison it had been out of joy, love, and desire. They had been prepared for whatever outcome befell. With Veronica, it was a necessity, a life or death circumstance that came to rest squarely on his shoulders. In the end the burden had been his, the decision made in a moment based off of a sketchy translation from a dumb surfer who had drunk away most of his brain cells before he was old enough to drive. Emotion overtook him as he settled back into his captain's chair, sending Casey out. Fear that his one-time nemesis would not survive caused his body to give out and he collapsed across the control panel, somehow managing to set the autopilot before succumbing to the blackness engulfing him.

Mick flew into action using the kitchen knife to slice through Veronica's pale stomach. Her eye's glazing over in white, her body slowly hardening, scars and old wounds fixed themselves, her hand repaired itself slowly and the globs of blood disappeared as the venom surged through her. Logan stood back helpless, unable to take his gaze off her shrieking lips. Mac stood at Mick's side, a towel in hand; ready to catch the baby when he pulled it out. Duncan rummaged through the galley for anything to help Mick, finding only a turkey baster to use for suctioning out the baby's mouth. Dick had backed himself into a corner and was covering his ears like a child who had snuck into a scary movie, ill-equipped for the scenes playing out before him. Closing his eyes tightly he sent up a silent prayer to every deity he had ever heard mention of to spare the life of one of the few people he called family. Casey positioned himself beside Logan, wrapping an arm around the man who had protected him when the cleaners had wanted to burn him to ash.

The group stood helpless as Mick fought against the venom to keep Veronica's stomach open long enough to remove the baby safely. Finally as the edges of her incision began to close Mick freed the slippery infant from her womb. Handing it immediately to Mac. She gently cradled the child to her chest while Duncan cleared its' mouth and Mick handed Logan the knife to cut the umbilical cord.

"It's a father's right, man. You have to."

Logan stepped forward and sliced the lifeline between mother and child just as the baby let out a scream. All eyes were on Veronica as they watched her body heal. After several minutes of silence Veronica sat up slowly, her eyes a ghostly white, "Get them out of here," she pointed toward Mac, Dick and Duncan, "Am I going to hurt them?"

"I sure hope not. I've never been one for heights and I don't know where the parachutes are," Dick broke the tension, triggering giggles from the rest of the room.

"I'll get you some blood, Ronnie," Casey was pulling a pint of AB+ out of a small refrigerator.

"Is she all right? Is she a she?" Veronica's eyes focused on her baby and as she sipped from her blood smoothie they changed back to the mystic blue they had been before.

"She is perfect," Mick announced, "ten fingers, ten toes, and a steady flutter of a heartbeat."

Mac's voice was barely above a whisper, "Can I bring her to you?"

Veronica looked at Logan for permission, he nodded his assent, "Yes, please." She smiled.

Veronica's eyes lit up as she cradled her daughter. Logan took his seat immediately beside her and asked, "So what are we going to name her?"

"Megan? I think Megan." She whispered. Logan nodded, "Megan Lilly Echolls." Veronica announced, "Meet most of your crazy family. That's Auntie Mac and Uncle Dick over there and Uncle Casey. Uncle Donny is flying the plane and that's Uncle Duncan…" Veronica's eyes stopped when they met Duncans.

"Megan?" Duncan smiled at his friends, knowing full well the meaning behind the name and who it remembered.

"Yea, Megan. Meg was one of the most kind-hearted people I ever knew, aside from the whole hating me for a little while there, which I deserved, even if I had no idea why at the time. She was my friend when no one else was. Megan."

"I better go check on Lamb," Casey excused himself to the cockpit.

The happiness that shrouded the plane lasted only a few moments. Veronica and Logan were quickly robbed of their bliss as Casey returned to the cabin announcing they would be landing shortly.

"What are we going to do? Will our plan still work?" Veronica's apprehension was felt by all.

"I think so," Mick stated, "Nothing has changed really. I mean accept that you had a baby and you are vampire now. The sun will be brutal on your skin but we can get you inside quickly. It's Megan we need to worry about."

"He can't get near her," Logan caught Veronica's gaze, "I won't let him get near her."

The plane landed and the group disembarked in silence. Each lost in their own thoughts of the fight they were willingly walking in to. Veronica clutched her newborn daughter as tightly as she dared and hummed a lullaby to sooth her.

"This will all be over one way or another this time tomorrow. That much I can promise you" Logan kissed the top of both his girls' heads before disappearing into Casey's office to solidify their plans for the next day.


End file.
